These halls are quiet on a Sunday morning with only the sound of monitors to echo in the silence of large emergency room. Not this again. I am tired of this place. It’s been a while since I’ve stood here, and yet it comes right back as if it …
Category: strength
Aug 23
Searching for a 100-percent Guarantee
I remember back in 1990 when doctors told me I had about a 40- or 50-percent chance of surviving my colon cancer, which had metastasized to several lymph nodes. I felt as if someone were going to toss a coin: heads, I live; tails, I don’t. I desperately wanted …
Aug 16
Is Jesus REALLY Enough?
My cancer diagnosis in 1990 was especially upsetting to my husband because he had lost his first wife nearly 20 years before to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) while they were still newlyweds. To watch me then face a life-threatening illness and an uncertain future was more than he felt he …
Aug 09
Serious Illness: An Unwelcome Intruder
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 …
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 not a caregiver right …
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