How long have you been an oncology social worker?
Since 2002; I am coming up on completing my 16th year.

Where do you currently work? What is your position? How long have you been there? Include prior Oncology SW work.
I was the first oncology social worker at Kaiser Permanente in Denver/Boulder, Colorado, a not-for-profit health care organization that is unique in that it is both an insurance plan/product and system of care. In 2002, we had five medical oncologists at only one location. Today, Kaiser has eight medical oncologists at each of three locations with a dedicated, embedded oncology social worker at each site. Apparently, we’re doing something right and adding value. I am very proud that Kaiser Permanente Colorado has seen fit to support this role in oncology in the context of lean financial times. My entire oncology social work career has been spent here.
 
Where did you earn your degrees?
BA, Politics, from Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT. 1988
MSW, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1997
 
How long have you been a member of AOSW?
I joined AOSW in 2002. Although I had prior medical social work experience leading up to my first oncology social work job, it became quickly apparent that joining AOSW would be helpful in getting me started to work in this new specialty.
 
Have you attended an AOSW Annual Conference? If so, when/where?
I attended AOSW Annual Conferences over the years in Salt Lake City, UT; Washington, DC; Austin, TX; Portland, OR; San Diego, CA and most recently in Denver, a few short miles from my clinic.
 
In your role as an oncology social worker/clinician, what is one of your favorite resources to share with clients? Why?
REEL RECOVERY—Fly-fishing retreats for men with cancer. This organization did its initial retreats in Colorado. I was privileged to attend part of a retreat and was the laughingstock of a few of my patients for catching, quite possibly, the smallest fish ever on a fly rod. We’d seen pet goldfish that were bigger! I’ve enjoyed sending guys to Reel Recovery over the years because so many men suffer emotionally in silence. I’ll invite my guys to take a few days away, all expenses-paid, in a beautiful location. Most have an interest in fishing (or at least learning and getting outdoors). When they return, a funny thing tends to happen when I ask them about their experience. They tell me of a transformative experience that touches them deeply, by being together with a small group of guys, and connecting over food and storytelling to talk about how cancer affected them. Only after some considerable sharing do I actually hear anything about the fish. Their powerful experience is about far more than just the fish.
 
In your experience with survivors, would you share a memorable story with us?
We ran a Survivorship/Post-Treatment support group for many years. A leukemia patient well-known to me shared his experience about the tremendous fear of recurrence. He had lower abdominal pain and presented with great anxiety to his primary care doctor’s office. He was certain that leukemia had relapsed. Upon completion of the physical exam and review of normal bloodwork, the doctor announced that he had a hernia. The patient jumped off the exam table, skipped around the room, shouted “Yippee! I have a hernia!” His support group laughed, all knowing of the multiple false alarms that happen, especially early, as cancer survivors.
 
In that “little something more” section, what is one thing you might share with us about you personally, one that is outside of your work life?
My activity of choice for self-care is mountain biking. It is my form of meditation that usually involves some explanation as those not inclined to go up and down trails with many obstacles think it seems a bit stressful. It is meditation by distraction, as attention to the trail, whether going up or down, is required if you don’t want to fall and get hurt. When I’m riding on a trail, whether close to home or in the wide open desert space of Moab, UT, I forget that I’m a husband, a dad, a social worker. I’m one with the trail, having my own little spiritual experience in nature.
 
Anything more you’d like to tell us?
I became a dad three weeks before I started working as an oncology social worker. For the first time in my career, I started to look at the clock near the end of the day, eager to head home and see my baby rather than see or call one more patient. Interestingly, the energy and attention required by parenthood helped me to set better boundaries. The work and patient needs would always be waiting for me the following day, but being the kind of husband and dad I wanted to be could not be scheduled for the next day. The time is NOW, and that has allowed me to have a lot of fun along the way, as that little “baby” is now 15 years old, and her little brother is 13. My wife is a medical social worker (we met in class in graduate school), and conversation with two teenagers in today’s world is really starting to get interesting. But, that’s another story.