It’s been more than four months since I’ve interviewed Dr. Marc Hirsh about his journey with a rare cancer, so I called him a few days ago. “Just got back from a half-hour run with (older daughter)Jessi’s two dogs,” Marc said on the phone as he fixed himself a glass of juice. “You’re jogging?” I …
Category: strength
Jan 06
My New Year’s Prayer for You
When my granddaughter Abby was 3, she’s wasn’t the best sleeper. She wasn’t the worst sleeper, but definitely not as good as her brothers, then ages 1 and 5. In fact, she was quite the master of “stalling” at bedtime and “needing” things in the middle of the night. You may be familiar with …
Dec 16
Can You be Weary and Grateful at the Same Time?
Weariness…either you’re facing it or someone you love is. I recently heard from a songwriter and new FB friend Carrie Marshall* who told me that in this weary year she has been diagnosed with a concussion, COVID-19 and cancer. “I call it the Triple C,” she explained with an added LOL. I looked up “weary” …
Dec 02
“She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her way—and surely it has not—she adjusted her sails.” –Elizabeth Edwards
I think it was quite an understatement when Elizabeth Edwards, wife of then-U.S. Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards asserted that the wind had not blown her way. Elizabeth’s firstborn was killed in a car accident at the age of 17. Later while she was fighting recurrent breast cancer, her husband had …
Nov 11
Hope is the Thing with Feathers
If you had asked my friend Carollynn Supplee what gave her hope throughout her cancer journey, she would have smiled and quickly answered: Feathers. She loved Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Thing with Feathers” which begins: Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And …
Oct 29
How to Stay Calm in Football Games…and in Life
I’m a passionate football fan. I enjoy exciting, close games…unless the Ohio State Buckeyes or the Philadelphia Eagles are playing. Then I’m a nervous wreck and terribly worried until my team is ahead by at least three scores. Last week I’m watching the 4th quarter of the Philadelphia-N.Y. Giants game and the Eagles are down …
Oct 14
“Cancer will not steal one day from me!”
Not long after Donna Wishowski was diagnosed with cancer, she made a decision which would radically shape the next 17 years of her life: “Cancer will not steal one day from me!” It was a choice that no matter how many days she had left–or didn’t have left–she would not allow a disease to …
Sep 30
Living with Uncertainty: My Oncologist Has Cancer (Part 4)
Would you like to hear some GOOD NEWS today?It has been 4.5 months since my oncologist and former employer, Dr. Marc Hirsh (pictured above with me in 1999) was diagnosed with an extremely rare cancer. It has no known cure nor effective treatment, but Marc finished his self-prescribed regime of 30 days of radiation …
Sep 16
Do You Need to Hear from God?
I hope you have someone who is praying with you during your cancer journey or whatever trial you’re facing—not just for you, but right with you so you can hear your needs lifted to Heaven. Even though I have been privileged to pray with cancer patients and their caregivers for the past 30+ years, I never …
Aug 19
Faith & Family: My Oncologist Has Cancer (Part 3)
It’s one thing to be given a cancer diagnosis. It’s another matter to be told there is no known cure for that cancer. And it’s a whole other ballgame to learn there’s no recognized effective treatment either. My oncologist, Dr. Marc Hirsh, has been smacked with this reality in the three months since he …