Weekly Round-Up

T for this week’s round-up of the best of the blog posts which I’ve read over the past week. These are the posts that have moved me, taught me something, inspired me, and which I’ve wanted to share with you. Don’t forget if you have written a post which you would like readers to see, just […]

Poetry Friday

The Butterfly Effect For Marie Ennis O’Connor So close and still Quietly far away From the company Who chose you The day you heard The word we all Heard. Echoes In a canyon… Continue reading →

How Do You Support A Friend With Cancer?

I’m looking for your tips and suggestions on how best to help a friend with cancer, for an article I’m writing on this topic.  As individuals with our own experience of cancer are… Continue reading →

A-Z of Blogging: H is for Hair #AtoZChallenge

26 posts. 26 days. 26 letters of the alphabet, one blog post beginning with each letter. H is for Hair I started this blog a few years after my breast cancer diagnosis and… Continue reading →

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A Special New Year’s Wish For Friends

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And so, here we are again, on the cusp of a new year, and I have been wondering what to write today. I could wish all of you who have had troubles this… Continue reading →

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Shedding Light On A Winter Solstice

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There is something very special about today’s date. In the northern hemisphere December 21st is celebrated as the Winter Solstice and I feel drawn today to celebrate its ancient meaning with you. Nowhere… Continue reading →

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Thanksgiving Greetings From Ireland

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One of the things I’m most grateful for in my life is that I feel part of a wonderful support community through this blog. While we don’t celebrate the day officially here in… Continue reading →

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Only Kindness Makes Sense #WorldKindnessDay

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 Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you… Continue reading →

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Shedding Our Masks on #WorldMentalHealthDay

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Today is World Mental Health Day, which is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental… Continue reading →

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Cultivating Compassion In Challenging Times

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My beautiful friend Pasha Hogan is offering a free live event this Sunday September 20th on the topic of cultivating compassion in challenging times. The literal root of the word compassion is “to… Continue reading →

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Poetry Friday

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Monday Motivation

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Mindful Monday

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Is Chemobrain Real?

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A familiar name on the tip of your tongue, keys misplaced, a train of thought derailed in the middle of a sentence. If what I’ve just described sounds familiar, you may be experiencing… Continue reading →

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When Mother’s Day Hurts

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Today is Mother’s Day in Ireland and the UK. For the past few years I’ve written about Mother’s Day without my mother, but this year I hesitated to write about it. I don’t want to be one… Continue reading →

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A Poem For The Time We Are In #WorldPoetryDay

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Today is World Poetry Day and in thinking of a poem to share with you I came upon this beautiful poem from the late Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue. It feels most… Continue reading →

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St Brigid’s Day

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Today, 1st February is St Brigid’s Day in Ireland. If St Patrick is our national saint, then Brigid is Ireland’s patroness. Girls were traditionally named Mary or Brigid in days gone by in… Continue reading →

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In Memory of Jan Baird Hasak

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It’s with great sadness that I write of the death of our friend Jan Baird Hasak. Older readers of this blog will remember Jan as a gracious part of our community. Jan was… Continue reading →

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Cancer and Depression #WorldMentalHealthDay

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Today is World Mental Health Day, which is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental… Continue reading →

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How Much Of Ourselves Should We Reveal Online?

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“Writing means revealing oneself to excess” –  Franz Kafka Occasionally when I write something on this blog, I pause before hitting the “publish” button and wonder have I revealed too much of myself?… Continue reading →

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A Note On Perfectionism

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This one goes out to all of my blogging friends who haven’t blogged in a while, particularly those who wait for inspiration (and perfection) to strike. I know what this is like –… Continue reading →

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How Do You Deal With “Survivor Guilt”?

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“Survivor guilt” is a not uncommon reaction to surviving a traumatic event that others have died in, for example, survivors of combat, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, or air crashes. Survivors feel guilty that… Continue reading →

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A-Z of Blogging: S is for Scanxiety #AtoZChallenge

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26 posts. 26 days. 26 letters of the alphabet, one blog post beginning with each letter. S is for Scanxiety It may not be officially part of the medical lexicon yet, but “scanxiety”… Continue reading →

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How Mary Oliver Healed My Soul

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We lost one of my most beloved poets yesterday. The incomparable Mary Oliver. Since I first started sharing poems here, she is the poet I return to again and again. Her poems are… Continue reading →

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Letting Go Of The Myth of Perfectionism

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Now I know I am in danger of generalizing here, but through personal observation,  I have noticed that many cancer survivors are high-achieving, driven, perfectionists with very high expectations of how they should be after their… Continue reading →

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Weekly Round-Up

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T for this week’s round-up of the best of the blog posts which I’ve read over the past week. These are the posts that have moved me, taught me something, inspired me, and which I’ve wanted to share with you. Don’t forget if you have written a post which you would like readers to see, just […]

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Tired of Cancer? It’s Time to Get Un-Tired

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Has cancer made you tired? Want to get un-tired? Then you will want to hear about a new app to help with cancer-related fatigue. It’s called Untire and it is based on many… Continue reading →

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Thanksgiving Greetings From Ireland

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One of the things I’m most grateful for in my life is that I feel part of a wonderful support community through this blog. While we don’t celebrate the day officially here in… Continue reading →

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Mindful Monday

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On Birthdays and Ageing

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Today is my birthday. I am now of a “certain age”, but like my mother before me, I don’t talk about age.  Anne Lamott is a writer I admire hugely and her quote… Continue reading →

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What’s The First Thing You Thought About This Morning? #WritingPromp

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If I am encouraging you to take up my weekly writing prompt, I really should be joining you. I need the inspiration too!  The first thing I thought of this morning was the… Continue reading →

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Nancy’s Summer Blogging Challenge

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If I put this post off any longer I will never get round to it, so here goes! 1.  How long have you been blogging (or reading blogs)? I started my blog in… Continue reading →

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My Abiding Love of Reading #BookLoversDay

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Today is designated #NationalBookLoversDay.  Are you a book lover? I sure am. I devour books and can’t sleep without first reading a chapter of whichever book I have on the go. I love reading… Continue reading →

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Coping With Scanxiety: Practical Tips from Cancer Patients

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Thanks to all of you who responded to my call for tips and advice on coping with scanxiety. The article is now published. It may not be officially part of the medical lexicon yet,… Continue reading →

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#MondayMotivation

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Mindful Monday

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The Real Patient in The Digital World

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I was delighted with the enthusiastic response to the concepts I presented in my talk on the digital patient at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-11) in Barcelona this week. Though there’s… Continue reading →

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Happy #InternationalWomensDay

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Each year around the world, International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8. To mark today, I want to give a shout out to all the women who have inspired and continue to inspire me here on Journeying… Continue reading →

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Happy Birthday Scorchy: Our hearts break all over again

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This showed up on my Facebook news feed today – I am sure it showed up for many of you too. My heart breaks all over again. How do you feel when you… Continue reading →

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#MotivationMonday

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Weekly Round-Up: World Cancer Day Edition #CancerRealityCheck

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Time for this week’s round-up of the best of the blog posts which I’ve read over the past week. These are the posts that have moved me, taught me something, inspired me, and which I’ve wanted to share with you. Don’t forget if you have written a post which you would like readers to see, just […]

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Poetry Friday

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91 dropped and falling from such heights for so long that maybe I will have enough time to learn flying Vera Pavlova

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#MondayMotivation

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Mindful Monday

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Poetry Friday

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I have a small grain of hope–one small crystal that gleamsclear colors out of transparency.I need more.I break off a fragmentto send to you.Please takethis grain of a grain of hopeso that mine… Continue reading →

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#MondayMotivation #MLKDay

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Weekly Round-Up:

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T for this week’s round-up of the best of the blog posts which I’ve read over the past week. These are the posts that have moved me, taught me something, inspired me, and which I’ve wanted to share with you. Don’t forget if you have written a post which you would like readers to see, just […]

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Poetry Friday

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For One Who Is Exhausted, a Blessing When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,Time takes on the strain until it breaks;Then all the unattended stress falls inOn the mind like an endless,… Continue reading →

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Mindful Monday

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Silence is really vital to the human heart.You see the human heart can’t live withConstant sound or noise.It needs silence in order to heal itself.The only two things that are ultimately required for… Continue reading →

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Weekly Round-Up:

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T for this week’s round-up of the best of the blog posts which I’ve read over the past week. These are the posts that have moved me, taught me something, inspired me, and which I’ve wanted to share with you. Don’t forget if you have written a post which you would like readers to see, just […]

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Poetry Friday

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I share with you the agony of your grief,The anguish of your heart finds echo in my own.I know I cannot enter all you feelNor bear with you the burden of your pain;I… Continue reading →

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Nollaig na mBan: An Irish Tradition

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Today is the last of the twelve days of Christmas. Generally known as the Feast of the Epiphany  it also goes by the name of “Nollaig na mBan” or “Women’s Christmas” in Ireland. This is… Continue reading →