January, 18th 2025: Join us for food, drinks, dancing, and author sharing — all to support our mission. Learn more here!
Cancer
I May Not Know Who I Am, But I Know What I Want
In popular lore, there is the cliche that before you die, your life flashes before your eyes. When I was 24, I was told I had stage III cancer, and what flashed before my eyes was all the life I should have lived: the wedding I would never have, the kids I would never raise, the dreams I was working toward—everything I thought I had time for could vanish in an instant.
Read More...Cancer is Not My Identity
Life after cancer isn’t what I, or many, expect it to be like. Like a lot of others, it’s believed that once your treatment is over and you are disease-free, your life will go back to how it once was.
Read More...if someone told me…
I wish someone told me that survivorship would be the hardest part…
that it’s like a rollercoaster,
except the track changes every time you start the ride again.
Life Goes On?
I looked in the mirror as I furiously brushed my hair. It reached down maybe a third down my back. It’s taken 12 years to get this long. I’ve only ever trimmed and shaped it a few times; I worry about cutting a chunk off, in case it won’t grow back.
Read More...Skin
You took the skin off my back, literally.
You left me numb, emotionally and physically.
Young Breast Cancer Your Story and Mine: A Compact Guide
Due to the problem of omission of public breast health education, I believed that “it couldn’t be cancer.” I didn’t know my risk factors, and I believed I was too young. This belief fueled my own delay in seeking care for some months, which could have been detrimental to my survival due to the extra aggressive nature of my tumor being Triple Negative breast cancer.
Read More...Expected Losses, Unexpected Gains
I don’t like surprises. As a child, I was told that when I received a gift I didn’t like, I had to swallow my disappointment and pretend that I liked the gift. I found this immensely difficult to do, and would often say “thank you, I love it,” with a grimace and tears threatening to spill over the edges of my eyelids.
Read More...The Mission Behind My Journey
Life often throws unforeseen challenges our way. As the saying goes, “Life be lifing.” For me, that challenge came in the form of a peritoneal mesothelioma diagnosis. This rare and aggressive cancer, usually associated with asbestos exposure, dramatically changed my life when I was just 21.
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.
Read More...