Editor
The writer hails from County Antrim and has lived in the desert southwest of the United States for over 20 years. Her blog is her virtual home away from home.
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in my hands
Even when rendered illogical and unreasonable, she by raging adolescent hormones, me by the effects of Tamoxifen, we are as two peas in a pod. We have the same hands. We love dark chocolate-covered anything, ice-cream, the smell of books, toasted coconut pancakes from Cost Plus World Market and The Daily Show. We are almost the same height, and she can walk…
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Culture of breast cancer, Health Activist Writer's Challenge 2013, Language of Cancer, Memoir, Memoir, Poetry, Toxic Workplaces
breast cancer ice-breaker
I don’t care much for today’s WEGO Health Challenge that aks if my health condition were an animal what would it be? It reminds me of those frivolous team-building activities often employed to “break the ice” at professional retreats or new employee orientations. We’ve all been there, and I know I am not the only one who silently groans when a well-meaning facilitator announces,…
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Breast Cancer Treatment, Cancer Language, Chemotherapy, Health, Health Activist Writer's Challenge 2013, Health Statistics, Language of Cancer, Mastectomy, Radiation, World Health Organization
prescribing health
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is . . . a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Living as opposed to surviving. Wholly well rather than declared NED (No Evidence of Disease), the state commonly used to describe a patient’s status after treatment. Breast cancer surgeon, Dr. Deanna Attai, explains that,…
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Blogging, Breast Cancer Awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Treatment, Culture of breast cancer, Health Activist Writer's Challenge 2013, Memoir, Memoir, Pink Ribbons, Themes of Childhood
the “human” resource ~ star stuff
The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff. Remembering the first time I saw it, nebulous and bright white on a screen in my doctor’s darkened office, the cancer makes me think of…