Living

There is a huge misunderstanding that cancer survivors are a bunch of helpless individuals. I’m here to break down some of these misconceptions as those theories are a bunch of...

Cancer has an effect on all areas of life, there is no one that can claim otherwise. Social life, love life, work-life, even online life, all are affected by the...

Normally, if I have a nightmare about blood cancer, it’s about relapsing. I assume I am not alone. It’s a big fear, and so it makes sense that it seeps...

Gift-giving can be hectic and stressful for many of us and may be more stressful if the intended recipient is a cancer survivor. One may know a family member or...

I recently got to thinking about when I was first diagnosed with leukemia, specifically chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The long and winding road to it I’ll put off until another...

Having a cancer diagnosis has been the most frightening event of my life. Even as an experienced RN, I did not know how to prepare for or what to expect...

It’s been a while since I’ve felt like this. Well, at least I think it has been. I can’t really remember. I know it happens. It comes and goes. Everything feels like...

If you are like me, you’re feeling a need to connect these days. I’m working from home, self-isolating as much as I can. I’m lucky to be home with my...

I think I'm failing retirement. I blame President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn set the bar too high with all of their work for Habitat for Humanity. You...

The experience of a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. Initially, my oncologist recommended a “watch and wait” approach as this was the standard of care for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Unfortunately, my...

One of my favorite quotes is “life happens to us when we’re busy making plans” by Allen Saunders. Life has a way of surprising you, as things don’t always turn out the...

It’s important to reduce stress in our lives. We don’t have the health, the strength, or the time for a stressful life. But how do we get there? Here are...

After I had a cesarean section, I thought that in childbirth class they could have spent more time discussing the procedure. I remember it as an afterthought. “Oh, this might...

I am ready. I grab my bag, stuffed full of books, warm socks, lip balm, nausea pops, good luck charms, and a blanket as I sit in the passenger seat...

In my family, three people have gotten cancer. First, it was my mother. For her, it started with cervical cancer which was cured. Then a few years later she developed...

We are motivated to find meaning in our lives. This is especially true in the aftermath of a cancer diagnosis. I can remember struggling with the uncertainty of the future...

I have a confession to make: I’m a big nerd. Specifically, I’m a big cancer nerd. I could go by other names. Cancer geek. Maybe cancer anorak. Some say those...

I recently read a post by one of our members. It seems her family, and in particular, her parents implied that it is somehow her fault she has cancer. The...

As I think back upon all the things people have said to me since my diagnosis, ‘Stay positive!’ is one of the most common. It is often said with the...

There was good news and bad news when they went from using one arm to two in the procedure called ECP, or extracorporeal photopheresis for graft-versus-host disease of the skin...