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Bob's Columns

Bob Riter is the retired Executive Director of the Cancer Resource Center. His articles about living with cancer appeared regularly in the Ithaca Journal and on OncoLink. He can be reached at bobriter@gmail.com.

A collection of Bob’s columns, When Your Life is Touched by Cancer: Practical Advice and Insights for Patients, Professionals, and Those Who Care, is available in bookstores nationwide and through online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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Why Aren’t They Doing More?

I sometimes get asked various versions of this question: “My father has advanced cancer, but they don’t seem to be treating him very aggressively. Why aren’t they doing surgery to

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If Mom Has Cancer

I sometimes hear from middle-aged friends who tell me that their mother (or father) was just diagnosed with cancer. They then launch into their plans for her treatment. This is

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Cancer and Positive Thinking

Whenever someone is diagnosed with cancer, people feel compelled to say, “You gotta stay positive!” (This is usually said with an enthusiastic pump of the arm). I’m a pretty positive

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Lessons Learned from Cancer

I’m always happy when readers tell me that the advice I provide in my columns about cancer is just as applicable for people with any type of serious illness. Increasingly,

Cancer on your own terms

I once wrote a column about people who go through cancer with exceptional grace. A few readers said that the column made them angry. The comments were along the lines

Decision-making with cancer

Everyone diagnosed with cancer has decisions to make. What type of treatment? Where to have treatment? Should the cancer even be treated? The question isn’t what’s best. Rather, the question