Serious illness is an unwelcome intruder in any person’s life, but for those of us who are organized, well-prepared planners, it can be especially unpleasant. I’ve always felt you can ward off a lot of problems in life but anticipating them ahead of time. You know, take an umbrella with …
Category: strength
Jul 26
Why Does God Allow Suffering?
This has to be one of the most difficult questions we can ask. Why do children get cancer? Why does a young woman fight for her life while an elderly woman prays to die? Why do some people have so many trials and others have so few? Why do brilliant minds get …
Jul 05
An Amazing Story of the First Survivor I Ever Knew
“There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Christopher Robin to Winnie‑the‑Pooh in Pooh’s Most Grand Adventure I love these words of encouragement from one best friend to another. They were the sentiment of a life-changing pep talk given to me …
Jun 28
Do You Need a Good Cry?
You can beat this. Think positive. You can do it. Stay positive. I know people mean well when they say those things to people facing serious tough times, but I must admit they often rub me the wrong way. Many caring people uttered those kinds of “encouraging” phrases to me after …
Jun 21
The Language of Cancer and the Language of God
Tumor markers. Monoclonal antibodies. Angiogenesis inhibitors. Stereotactic radiation. MediPort. Neutropenia. Micrometastases…So how are you doing with learning the cancer vocabulary? Or how about the alphabet soup of acronyms? CEA, PSA, KRAS, ER/PR, Her-2/neu, VEGF, and BRCA just to name a few. Yikes! Someone please get me an interpreter or at least …
Jun 07
Yes, there IS life after cancer!
This past Sunday was National Cancer Survivor’s Day— a holiday to celebrate survivors and remind them and their caregivers that there really is life after a cancer diagnosis. So when do you know that you or your loved one is a cancer survivor? When the scan comes back clear? When the …
May 17
How to Fly into (and out of!) a Hurricane
The more I talk with my cousin Jim about his days of flying with an Air Force weather reconnaissance team, the more I believe that the trials of life—cancer included—are a lot like flying into a hurricane…both require an inordinate amount of trusting. Jim agrees with my observation and says …
Apr 26
How to Be Good to Yourself so You Can Be Better for Someone Else
So what’s the gauge reading on your emotional tank today? Getting low and searching for a fill-up? Half-empty and still draining? On fumes and slowly coasting downhill? I want to encourage caregivers today because the focus is so much on the patient that those standing by them often get forgotten. (If your’re …
Apr 05
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at My Not-So-Peaceful Life
My new book Peace in the Face of Cancer officially released yesterday and I thought I’d share a little behind-the-scenes look at my life—just in case you have any misconception I have it all together! Last week I had three online podcast interviews. The first two were on Skype, which I …
Mar 29
Nothing Surprises God
I don’t think most people are truly prepared to get bad health news. Instead we hope against hope that things will not turn out as we fear and the whole nightmare will go away. Right up until I saw the look on my gastroenterologist’s face after my colonoscopy in June …