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
I love this story from the CNN heroes series about breast cancer survivor, Andrea Ivory, who is on a mission to save lives one house at a time. Ivory formed the Florida Breast… Continue reading
Long before Naomi Campbell, another Naomi, Naomi Sims, made her mark as the first black model to gain world wide recognition in the Sixties. Naomi rocketed to the top of the fashion world when she… Continue reading
In my day job, I work as a communications officer for a leading academic institution, so I am used to the world of grant proposals, but I never saw a grant title like this one –… Continue reading
Today’s poem is the first cancer poem I have featured. Thanks to those who have sent me in their poems and I look forward to posting many more of these over the coming… Continue reading
I have just spent the last hour happily picking my way through my family history online. The 1911 Irish census is now online and it makes for fascinating reading. Family history was never… Continue reading
The new cancer treatments offered by gene therapy will be discussed in a public talk on Thursday at 6.30pm in the Lifetime Lab, UCC, Cork. Five specialists will share their knowledge of new… Continue reading
From today’s Irish Times Experts have gathered the strongest evidence yet that a woman’s lifestyle is linked to her risk of developing breast cancer.The biggest ever review of research into the issue has… Continue reading
Today’s Meat Free Monday dish is from one of my favourite food writers, Nigel Slater. He was writing about his glut of home grown courgettes in last Sunday’s Observer and offered this delicious… Continue reading
First we had the “L word”….now comes the “C word” on TV. According to Showtime sources, actress Laura Linney, an actress I always enjoy watching, is to star in a “dark comedy about cancer”.… Continue reading
