IT IS NOT ALWAYS THE CANCER

A cancer survivor recalls the scary moment she experienced what she thought was a new life-threatening side effect. Last year I wrote an article “Please Quit Telling Me It’s Not the Cancer.”It talked about how many side effects come from cancer and treatments, and doctors not recognizing or admitting that to patients.......

WHY CANCER SURVIVORS CANNOT ALWAYS BE POSITIVE

A cancer survivor describes how frustrating it can be to experience toxic positivity. Overall I consider myself to be a positive person. I try to look on the bright side while constantly fighting a tendency towards depression I have battled all my life. That is why I recently was blindsided by some......

WHY DOESN’T CANCER MAKE SENSE?

A woman in remission from her cancer ponders why the disease seemingly chooses to steal certain lives and spare others. When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I was told the average time to live was 104 months. After my initial shock, I felt like I would get increasingly worse, the chemo......

HOW SOON WE FORGET

A cancer survivor shares the valuable lessons she learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, almost six months after receiving her vaccination. I was watching a medical show on television recently where the scenes were flipping back and forth from the present to the past. One unforgettable scenario was January 2021. The staff at......

GRIEF IS LIKE SWIMMING

A cancer survivor writes about the ever-changing waves of grief. I have written in the past about the grief and loss cancer survivors feel when they realize their bodies may never return to the normal healthy ones they were before the disease. I was recently leafing through a magazine, Hearing Life (Summer 2021). This......

THE CANCER SIDE EFFECTS THAT NEVER DISAPPEAR

A cancer survivor describes the agony of experiencing side effects that never go away and how she lives with them. I think most of us cancer survivors will agree we are grateful for every day and rejoice if we are in remission. When we are told we have NED (no evidence of......

CANCER SURVIVORS ARE TIRED OF BEING AFRAID

A cancer survivor describes how survivors can help face their fears by connecting with each other. We are now into our second year of the pandemic. Little did we realize during the chaotic year of 2020 that we would still be fighting this terrible pandemic in the middle of 2021? This monster......

CANCER SURVIVORS ARE ALL ON A JOURNEY

A cancer survivor explains why each person experiences cancer differently – from side effects to treatments and more. I was talking recently to a college student who will soon graduate and embark on the path to her future. She was telling me that she was overwhelmed by the decisions she had to......

ONE OF MY ARTICLES MADE THE TOP 5 FOR THE WEEK!

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THE ROLLERCOASTER RIDE NEVER SEEEMS TO END FOR CANCER SURVIVORS

A blood cancer survivor compares her journey to a rollercoaster and describes how she never knows what lies ahead. I was truly naïve when first diagnosed with my treatable but noncurable cancer. I didn’t realize up close and personal what this meant. I had several rounds of upper respiratory and urinary tract......

WHEN TIME IS PRECIOUS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS, THE LITTLE THINGS COUNT

A cancer survivor talks about how she has learned to appreciate the little things in her daily life. One of the things that irritates me the most about having chronic cancer is all the medical appointments that take so much precious time. When I complain, I feel guilty because so many people......

AS CANCER SURVIVORS WE FEEL LIKE WE ARE DROWNING DURING COVID -19

A cancer survivor explains how she feels like she’s living inside a nightmare with new COVID-19 variants appearing all the time, making her unable to see her family over the holidays. I have been writing about the double whammy of COVID-19 and cancer for survivors for way too long now. This nightmare began in......