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dealing with deleting “cancer”
It is a confession of sorts. I do not want to write about being diagnosed with cancer, living with cancer, or expecting to die from cancer. In the beginning, cancer hung from every sentence, anchoring me down to an unfamiliar place, where one could easily get lost, were it not for the kindness of strangers. Like Rhonda, not a stranger to me, but a colleague who had never met my husband and made a point of finding him in the hospital waiting room where she waited with him for part of those eight hours I spent undergoing a mastectomy and reconstruction. Like Ken Kaminesky, a photographer I had never heard…
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Breast Cancer Treatment, Cancer Language, Depression, Language matters, Memoir, Mental Health, Northern Ireland, Ordinary Things, World Mental Health Day 2013
where is it likely to go better?
roll·er coast·er noun \ˈrō-lər-ˌkō-stər, ˈrō-lē-ˌkō-\ Definition of ROLLER COASTER 1. A steep, sharply curving elevated railway with small open passenger cars that is operated at high speeds as a ride, especially in an amusement park. 2. An action, event, or experience marked by abrupt, extreme change in circumstance, quality, or behavior. You. Have. Cancer. A cliché comes next – a roller-coaster ride. You know its refrain. First, the arduous climb towards brilliant blue. Gradually, the anxious giggling and chatter subsides. At the top, breath suspended, you wait for the world to fall out beneath you. Then a sudden plunge at shocking speed. Might you plummet to your death? Not yet. Still more unpredictable twists…
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world cancer day: a reprise
My breast cancer is not just about me as I discovered when my daughter decided to break her silence about it. In her own way. On Facebook. On World Cancer Day 2012. Thus, on a day designated for speaking up and out, I share with you her words and mine from February 4, 2012 . . . The Real Warrior in our House I didn’t know about a World Cancer Day. Until today, I’d known only about Breast Cancer Awareness October when the world turns pink for an entire month, so when I detected the lump on my breast on October 30, I should have been grateful for having made it until the end…
