Living

Living with cancer. We talk about how to manage it, how to work around it, and how to be happy in spite of it. Recently a friend of mine did...

Blood cancer survivors: Have you ever had a nightmare about relapsing? It wouldn’t be surprising if you did. I have had them for sure. Nightmares and flashbacks can be a...

On December 7, 1941, my grandparents were on their way to see a movie at the Coleman Theatre in Miami, Oklahoma, when they discovered that the Japanese had bombed Pearl...

Since finding out that my egg reserve is really low, I’ve been thinking about this and the fact that it’s highly likely that it’s the impact of 14 years of...

When thinking about blood cancer and any related treatments, it is easy to focus on the possible impacts chemotherapy and radiation may have on you or a loved one. From...

When I was growing up, I remember my mom was quite obsessed with her weight. It was interesting because she probably weighed 115 pounds soaking wet. Still, every morning she...

The way I sleep – curled on my right side in a little ball with my hands under my chin – is not good for the chronic pain under my...

Many people who develop cancer have to work, or at least try, during treatments. Crystal was fortunate enough to be able to come home during treatment and still get partial...

We never really see ourselves. I mean that literally. Our eyes face forward at the world around us. We have no real way of seeing what others see when they...

Cancer affects each of us with a range of feelings and emotions that may change daily, hourly, and even from minute to minute. I am usually an “in control” person...

The one eye-opener (though it’s been so many) that the COVID-19 virus has shown us, is how vulnerable we are to stuff. One area of insanity that stuck out for...

Grief. This is an emotion we usually associate with death and loss, but not necessarily cancer. The thing is, when you are diagnosed with cancer it is a sort of...

There is an inside group, a club no one wanted to join, of cancer survivors, no matter what kind of cancer the one has had, there is an automatic membership...

Chemotherapy may harm normal cells in the mouth, affecting your teeth, gums, the lining of your mouth, and the glands that make saliva. These side effects can alter your ability...

Having spent more than a year trying to convince my former primary care doctor that something was wrong, I have experienced wrongly being branded paranoid or a hypochondriac. What I...

Embarrassment. Humiliation. Exposure. Fears that many of us human beings dread more than almost all others. Being embarrassed in front of a crowd is a universal terror shared by so...

Birds have the inner knowledge to build a nest to protect themselves and their children from things that can harm them. We have our own way of doing this as...

A benefit of having had blood cancer, or any serious or life-threatening illness, dawned on me recently. It comes from having been on the receiving end of needing care and...

I feel like life challenges indeed help build a person’s character - either you're all in, or not, as part of these vital experiences, as it definitely helps in building...

There is no doubt that dogs can be a big help to a blood cancer patient. They provide comfort and joy. They can even help with a diagnosis! The very...