The Chronicles of Cancer and beyond ...
What is your favourite season? What is your most favourite thing to do in that season? What is something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet done? What is your biggest wish? Now close your eyes and imagine you’ve just been told you have Stage IV cancer and only 6 months to live. What […]
March 3, 2017 – My best friend Terri and I walked out of the surgeon’s office with a sheet of paper clutched in my hand, knowing for a fact that I had breast cancer. The report said so. Highly invasive ductal carcinoma. My body, mind and soul had known a little longer. Dr. X was completely honest […]
This is going to be one of those blog entries that is a bookmark work in progress. As I research the story of our breasts and bring in the context of cancer, I will modify this post into a whole chapter. Check back occasionally for updates. My breasts are two of the smallest in the […]
We shouldn’t have Carly. I almost didn’t take her. When I realized we had walked into a puppy mill, I told 12-year-old Matthew that we wouldn’t be taking a puppy. I had picked him up at a Friday night birthday party, and driven 1.5 hours to Colborne, Ontario to get this pup on July 16, […]
I have this reoccurring nightmare that my PICC line will bleed out. The nurses tell me that it can’t happen because there is a valve that prevents the backflow of blood … but what if the line is severed? As in a car accident? May as well slice my neck. The nightmare has me slowly […]
I think I deserve a celebration of sorts! And I didn’t want you to think chemotherapy was all exhaustion and feeling on the verge of vomiting! This round – knock on wood – hasn’t been so bad. Today is Day 3, which has been the morning I woke up feeling like death warmed over. But […]
She’s a little coo coo. Tower 10 as Bridget says, which I think means certifiable, without the cheque! She’s only coming out for special occasions … à la Coco Chanel. If you are just tuning in … I had Triple Negative Breast Cancer and am going through chemo now. I lost all my hair after […]
Shakespeare ~ A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Act 3, Scene 2 I am mostly fearless. I meet cancer head on and don’t flinch … which is exactly how I have always approached life. Tomorrow is my third of four chemotherapy infusions with the AC combination of drugs: doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan). Once the AC combo […]
This is so s’not funny … I lost all my nose hair. Who knew those tiny hairs were so useful? Is there no end to the indignities of cancer? While out shopping at Costco, Heather had to wipe her nose on her sleeve like a snotty brat. Caught red nosed without a kleenex. So not […]
I’ve pretty much always had Mother’s Day covered via one angle or another. My Mom lived to be ninety-two. By the time she passed away in 2013, I had already been a mother myself for 15 years. While I’ve usually looked back and reminisced on Mother’s Day … this year I look ahead into an […]