Survivorship

When the Bell Isn’t Magic

Walking into my first chemotherapy treatment was terrifying. The reality hit me immediately: a large room with at least 10 patients already hooked up to IV poles and one empty chair waiting for me.

What’s the Word?

According to some, we’re survivors after we’re done with treatment. To others, we’re survivors from the second we’re diagnosed.

What the Tumors Took: Living with What Cancer Left Behind

I was 32 when I heard the words “You have cancer.” It was March of 2020 — the world had seemingly just shut down, and so apparently had mine. As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, I found myself facing a second invisible enemy: breast cancer.

Controlling The Response After Cancer

One day, many years ago, long before I had been diagnosed with cancer, I remember hearing some insight phrased in such a way that it struck a profound chord within me, and ultimately changed my perspective, and my life.

The Challenge

I am alone, thrust into a world of disease. My body riddled with mutation. Internal scars begin to thicken.
I am alone, a sentinel who must lay down my guard.
I am alone, in a fight where mortality is in question.
I am alone, sequestered in fear.

The Eye of the Hurricane

I ascended the steps of the opera house stiffly, watching as we climbed higher and higher, far away from the stage. We passed rows and rows of red seats, and I took in the towering marble columns, so imposing and grand.

Magnets

Have you ever seen magnetic tiles? They’re a kids’ toy, usually made up of brightly colored pieces and stuck together at different angles. I’ve seen kids make grand houses or castles out of them with elaborate triangle roofs and arch doors.

Survivor’s Rage

Think, “oh how the tables have turned”. You had a particular way in which you read that statement, right? Now, use that same tone and say, “Oh how the struggles have changed”.

Cancer Survivorship

Surviving cancer is difficult. As soon as I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in March 2022, my oncologist told me to take the mental health aspect of cancer treatment as seriously as the physical treatment of cancer.

Finding Light in the After

Some days, it all feels like too much, and I just want to scream.

Survivorship is a funny thing — a club I never asked to join.