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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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Dear Younger Self
Younger Brooke,
Hi love, it’s you… future you. I wanted you to know that on October 26th, 2024– you will get a phone call that wakes you up.
Read More...Breathe
Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Inhale, exhale. Breathing is something we take for granted. It’s a given. It’s something you don’t even have to think about, But the minute you do start thinking about it, It becomes as if you have never taken a breath before. Like it is something […]
Read More...Redefining the Best Years of My Life
“College was the best four years of my life.” This sentiment has been drilled into my brain since birth.
Read More...a life forgotten
I grieve every life. I could have lived these past years. I miss who I was.
Read More...What I Wish MyChart Notifications Told Me
I wish someone told me that doing my best each day is enough. I don’t have to be some superhero and maintain the capacity I had before cancer crept into my life.
Read More...A Kinder Way to Life
Cancer, like a death sentence, was pronounced on me at the age of 33. I guess I can be only thankful that I didn’t know I had it until long after my operation was over.
Read More...Forever is Daunting
It feels as though the universe has been taunting me since birth. She beckons with whispers of promise, daring me to venture deeper into the vast, abstract abyss of time.
Read More...The Scars That Aren’t There
I haven’t begun treatment. No chemotherapy, no radiation, no surgery. My Oncologists say the cancer swimming through my veins “isn’t that bad yet”. I have all of my blonde hair. I haven’t lost a significant amount of weight. My Irish skin isn’t completely dried out. The soft outlines of my lips aren’t chapped. I have reached an understanding with the dark circles that developed under my eyes, my eyes that are the color of the sea following a storm. And, I do have scars.
Read More...My Cracked Earth
When I woke up from surgery,
Something was amiss.
The monitor beeped,
The plink plink of the dripping ringed,
The tubes were plugged into me
And my head felt numb
Like a dried-up earth
Ripped from nourishment
And cracked in pain.
An Imperfect Metaphor
I recently got unexpected good news within a still terrible situation. I’m 31 years old with metastatic breast cancer.
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