January, 18th 2025: Join us for food, drinks, dancing, and author sharing — all to support our mission. Learn more here!
AYA Cancer
The New Normal of Moving Forward
As I sat on my couch during a surprisingly warm April afternoon, I awaited the news my family had been dreading for weeks. I sat there watching YouTube videos on my phone while my thoughts wandered aimlessly. What if she did have it?
Read More...Mosaic: Finding New Identity and Purpose After Cancer
Fresh, unaltered
Clay still under my nails
A new vessel
Created by my hands
Parts of Me
Rediscovering myself after cancer. That is a phrase I never thought I would have to use. Some days it’s still hard for me to wrap my brain around my diagnosis. Other days, it seems too real and it’s scary to think about. I could never say there is a “positive side to cancer” (because there is not), but cancer has taught me invaluable things about myself.
Read More...My Body is a Jerk
My body is a jerk. A common refrain of mine and an easy short-hand to answer why something happened. Why do you have to go to the bathroom so often, Dil? My body is a jerk. Why did your spine get compression fractures? Because my body is a jerk. Why are you still testing positive for COVID-19 six months after you got over it and have no symptoms? Because my body is a big, fat jerk.
Read More...Different Body
Endured, tolerated, persisted, resisted; these are some verbs that come to mind when I think of my body. A different kind of body that was brought into the night side of life. A stressed body condemned to immobility. As a childhood cancer survivor, it is hard to remember specifically what I felt when I was diagnosed or going through treatment, but if I study my scars and listen to my body, I can discover a once-devastated geography.
Read More...Trusting the Unpredictable
I’ve always had a difficult relationship with my body. For years, I’ve tried to lose weight and tried all sorts of methods, but the stubborn extra pounds just refuse to shed. To maintain an acceptable baseline body shape, I used to spend two hours on rigorous exercises each day and be super careful with my eating.
Read More...Not Always A Cinderella Story
I remember walking into the waiting room at the Allan Blair Cancer Center and seeing a few older couples in the waiting room. I also saw a younger couple around my age sitting beside each other; the girl was filling out the paperwork while the boy looked at her with concern.
Read More...My Body, My Battle
I’ll pray and then I’ll sleep
I’ll sleep and then I’ll eat
I’ll eat and then I’ll try to do something productive
I’ll do some chores and then I’ll be short of breath
I’ll sit and rest
Cancer Made the People Come Back
They emerged from long silences and came from all times and many different places. They drew as near as possible through words and cards, and so many flowers—so many my small house could not even hold them all.
Read More...Swept Away: Healing Lost Trust
I am the parent of a kindergartener. For colorectal cancer, I am early onset. Most people at my facility are elderly. How can they relate to cancer at my age, as a mom of a young boy?
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