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Patients
The stories and experiences in this category are written by people currently going through treatments for cancer. Read these stories to find inspiration and know that you are not alone in your experience with cancer.
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The Luck of the Irish: A Parable of Inheritance, Illness, and Hope
This past St. Patrick’s Day my daughter and I were listening to John Lennon’s “Luck of the Irish”. She wondered aloud whether people realized the phrase was meant to be ironic. Lennon certainly did, singing, “If you had the luck of the Irish, you’d be sorry and wish you were dead…”
Read More...I am a Zebra
As the child of a single parent, I was raised to be a strong, independent individual who wanted to be the best possible version of myself. In my attempt at perfectionism, I had illnesses – IBS, eating disorder, anxiety, body image and acceptance issues.
Read More...Breast Cancer
We were told we had time. That day after day, Our tomorrows stretched, Like little waves under a full moon, On the deep blue ocean, Our potential lapping, At the horizon: Limitless.
Read More...A Year in “Rear View”
Random ramblings on a day of new significance. It’s funny how a date on a calendar changes its meaning within a year. May 23rd, 2024. The day I logged into MyChart and read and re-read the pathology reports, and knew this was going to upend all our plans and hopes for 2024.
Read More...Dear Cancer, You Won’t Stop Me
I have some choice words for you. I can tell you off or tell you to go somewhere, or say that I hate you. But you’re a smug, stubborn son of a gun and don’t care. I have no choice but to fight you and go to battle.
Read More...Uninvited
Dear Cancer, I never invited you in. You barged into my life unannounced, unwelcomed, and completely unraveled the world I had worked so hard to hold together.
Read More...Letters from the Light
Dear Cancer, It’s been sixteen years. And somehow, you’re still here—still a hater. You keep taking from me, Stealing pieces of who I used to be.
Read More...Dear Cancer: We Are Stronger Than You
You tried to take my life away from me. From my loved ones, from my work, from my home and from my family. You tried to make me give up. You tried to defeat me.
Read More...Desert Island
Living with you is like being stuck on a desert Island while watching boats, yachts, and ships pass you by. People see you on this island, wave, maybe offer you words of encouragement, but no one dares to step foot on this cancerous island, well, no one chooses to anyway.
Read More...Dearest Death
You might be wondering how it is that I could sit here and write a love letter to you. Having you hover above my head, like a dark cloud, over the last 4 years.
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