Weekly Round-Up

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girl_with_lassoTime for this week’s round-up of the best of the blogs 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. Remember, if you have written or read a post recently which you would like me to share with readers, then please leave a comment below.

Let’s start this week off with a storm – the storm of protest whipped up in the blogosphere and twitterverse and elsewhere by Komen’s decision to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood. Chemobrain, The Pink Underbelly, Nancy’s Point, Pink Ribbon Blues, CancerFree2B, Jackie Fox,  and Uneasy Pink have all come out in force to voice their strong feelings.

Nancy Hick’s latest guest post has generated a lot of compassionate responses and continuing with the theme of grieving the death of a loved one, Melanie Greenberg, who lost her own mother last week has chosen some quotes to comfort us in this difficult process. My favorite is one she shares from Charles Dickens, one of my most loved classic authors:

And can it be that in a world so full and busy the loss of one creature makes a void so wide and deep that nothing but the width and depth of eternity can fill it up!

Last week I wrote of my insomnia, which sadly hasn’t improved since then, so I really identify with Chemobabe this week, writing about her own fatigue which she describes as “more like a light being dimmed from the inside.”

I’ve heard cancer described as the gift that keeps on giving and while one of those “gifts” is fatigue, another is a sense of uncertainty in the future  – a theme we find echoed in Bringing Up Goliath this week, as she approaches 3 years post cancer diagnosis:

Sounds like a long time, but is it cause for celebration?  Is it significant? Three years without a sign of recurrence.  Does it mean anything or should it be five years to carry some weight?

A very interesting discussion on Beth’s Calling the Shots blog this week on not judging a book by its cover.

Another great #BCSM Twitter chat this week on the topic of cancer apps and it’s a theme taken up by Jody  on Women with Cancer.   Meanwhile,  Jan is musing on technology and social media in her latest post this week.

In The Truth About Trying, Debbie has written on a topic very close to my own heart – infertility and ending the (shameful) secrecy of hiding it. “Too often couples experiencing infertility go into hiding” writes Debbie. “The truth about trying is that you are not alone. Whatever you’re struggling with, it’s always a bit easier once you find your tribe, the others who know because they’ve been there too.”

Don’t forget to catch up with Terri on her adventures – she has arrived “in sticky and humid Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)” and you can read all about it on her blog A Fresh Chapter. And then go to Feisty Blue Gecko’s blog for another fix of adventure (amazing photographs this week Phillipa!)

Finally, Bronnie Ware,  writing on Maria Shriver’s blog on the top 5 regrets of the dying gave me pause for thought this week and so I would like to leave you with a quote from her article to end our week:

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

Until next week, choose what’s right for YOU!

Marie xxx

Category : #BCSM, Advocacy, Death and Dying, Health 2.0, Lifestyle, Patient Empowerment, Psychological impact of cancer
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