Blessing
For all those who asked me to reprint the John O’Donoghue poem, Blessing, read by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the spiritual care conference: Beannacht (“Blessing”) On the day when the weight deadens on… Continue reading
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
For all those who asked me to reprint the John O’Donoghue poem, Blessing, read by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the spiritual care conference: Beannacht (“Blessing”) On the day when the weight deadens on… Continue reading
Returning again to the theme of mindfulness, I came across the following study of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for survivors of breast cancer. Research has shown that in the post treatment phase of recovery, breast… Continue reading
The drug lapatinib could be used to treat aggressive inflammatory breast cancer suggest the findings of a recent study. For patients resistant to conventional anthracycline or taxane and trastuzumab, treatment options are limited. Lapatinib inhibits… Continue reading
Health literacy – a person’s ability to read and understand basic health information – is an important issue that is frequently overlooked. Health literacy means more than just reading information as it involves… Continue reading
In older breast cancer survivors, the number of lymph nodes removed during surgery and the presence of cancer in the lymph nodes were the two factors most directly linked to the development of… Continue reading
BREAST FEST is the world’s first film festival dedicated to breast cancer awareness. This annual festival includes short films, documentaries, animation, dramatic features and experimental works which span the emotional spectrum. Through the… Continue reading
We know that early detection is an important factor in the success of breast cancer treatment. While some studies have shown that breast self-exam does not reduce the number of deaths from breast… Continue reading
I have written many times of my belief that the real healing work of cancer begins after treatment ends. Cancer strikes a severe blow at our sense of self and our sense of… Continue reading
A unique mother-daughter study that used magnetic resonance to measure breast density in younger women shows that percent of breast water could be linked to the risk of breast cancer in middle age and… Continue reading