You never think it will be you. You go about your days making plans, imagining futures, dreaming ordinary dreams. Life feels steady, predictable. And then it isn’t. One phone call. One scan. One… Continue reading
In 1948, two French scientists noticed something unexpected in their lab samples: fragments of DNA drifting in blood plasma. At the time, the discovery seemed trivial, even puzzling. DNA, after all, was supposed… Continue reading
You’ve likely heard people talk about “chemo brain”—or maybe you’ve even felt it yourself. It’s that foggy sensation that can make it tough to find the right word, recall a friend’s name, or… Continue reading
So few grains of happiness measured against all the dark and still the scales balance. – Jane Hirshfield “The Weighing” I’ve been reflecting on these lines from Jane Hirshfield’s poem The Weighing and how its… Continue reading
In many cultures, greetings are often seen as polite and routine exchanges. However, in some Muslim cultures, there exists a profound dimension to these everyday interactions. When someone asks, “How are you?” in… Continue reading
I discovered that today, September 16th is ‘Tattoo Story Day’. While I am not sure if this is a day that’s universally marked, it gives me the prompt I need to tell the… Continue reading
Checking my August Awareness Day Calendar, I discovered that today, August 30th is designated as Grief Awareness Day. Sometimes I feel we are awash with grief in our community. Not just in our… Continue reading
Are you looking for a new job after cancer treatment? Perhaps you left your last employment after your diagnosis, or maybe you are still in your current job but want a fresh start… Continue reading
“In a society which is much more inclined to help you hide your pain rather than to grow through it, is necessary to make a very conscious effort to mourn.” – Henri Nouwen Grief… Continue reading
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 […]
The Thing Is to love life, to love it evenwhen you have no stomach for itand everything you’ve held dearcrumbles like burnt paper in your hands,your throat filled with the silt of it.When… Continue reading
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
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
Women with the most common type of non-invasive breast cancer known as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are significantly less likely to develop invasive disease if they are given radiotherapy after surgery, and the effect… Continue reading
To mark World Mental Health Week, back in October, I asked some of my favourite bloggers to write a guest post on the theme of Building Resilience. I want to repost one of… Continue reading
I have no idea what it must be like to have to make the decision to undergo a prophylactic mastectomy, the name given to the surgery that may be done to remove one… Continue reading
UPDATE. Since this posting, we have learned of the sad news of the death of Elizabeth Edwards. The news started trickling through my Twitter time-line late last night – ( late in terms of… Continue reading
I love how things work out in the Twitterverse! Last Thursday my friend Debbie tweeted about this dish she had just made and how scrumptious it tasted. She did this just as I… Continue reading
I was reading some research last week which suggests that emotional states can be transferred directly from one individual to another by “emotional contagion”. People can “catch” emotional states they observe in others. This… Continue reading
Looking at the pictures in the newspaper this week of comedienne and actress, Jennifer Saunders, as she attended the ballet in London, those of us who have gone through chemo, will recognise her gorgeous… Continue reading
In keeping with the spirit of last week’s thanksgiving, today’s poem is from my favourite poet, Mary Oliver, whose poetry always touches me deeply. Her poem is an invitation to look closely at all… Continue reading
Chemotherapy is such a crude blunderbus of an instrument, that to see us moving closer to more targeted and personalised cancer treatment is hugely encouraging. One way in which we are moving one step forward in this advance is… Continue reading
