Survivor

The Second Battle: Rebuilding After Cancer

We spend more than a year—sometimes even longer—fighting every day for our lives through cancer. Then, in remission, our bodies remain on high alert, bracing for the next blow.

The Unspoken Guilt of Living

Twice.

I’ve survived cancer twice.

It’s a statement that still feels unreal—unreal and grotesque.

Two Hospital Rooms

One welcomes a baby,
filled with soft cries and loud joy.
The other says goodbye to her breasts,
stitched in silence, wrapped in loss.

Remodeling My Emotional Kitchen: Healing Through Cancer

Cancer changed my relationships with others by forcing me to face and process my trauma. Eve Ensler, the playwright of The Vagina Monologues and a cancer survivor herself, reported that she survived cancer by confronting her trauma, along with making lifestyle changes and using traditional Western medicine.

Everything Happens for a Reason…Or Does It?

I liken this phrase to “God gives you what you can handle”. The first time I heard it was after my grandfather had been diagnosed with lung cancer and my grandmother informed our minister and the congregation about his condition.

Dancing Through the Rain with Cancer

Words painted on the wall of my first infusion center. I never imagined how much power and importance these words would have in my life that first day I sat in an infusion chair for my eight-hour long infusion of alpha interferon, intron A.

The Adulting You Can’t See

There always seems to be a buzzword for a time period in one’s life that sticks. The current word is “adulting”. It’s the word that doesn’t need explaining and represents more than the word itself.

Playing Russian Roulette with Cancer

After living for seven months with
No Evidence of Disease,
I spent two weeks
Thinking that I had metastasized liver cancer.

My Identity After Cancer

After being diagnosed with cancer and overcoming it, a new label was added to my identity: cancer survivor. While this label carries a positive connotation, it also brings a sense of uncertainty.

I Wish Someone Told Me to Try to Go with the Flow

When I was diagnosed the first time around, back in 2017, I had a pretty idealistic view of how I would navigate chemotherapy. I was convinced I would successfully use the cold cap and keep all of my hair.