When I was initially diagnosed in 2017 with Stage II breast cancer, my boys were one (1) and three (3). We were tandem nursing and as each of my boys were born, my parenting revolved around my breasts. Nursing was such a great way to resolve just about anything and I loved watching their bond … Continue reading Parenting and MBC, Part I
Author: Abigail Johnston
I'm a daughter, a wife, a mother, and I've been living with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer since March, 2017. All of the words I publish are my own.
Imprinting
Recently, at the inaugural MBC Legacy Workshop with SurvivingBreastCancer.org, as we were discussing our definitions of legacy, one of the participants suggested that we could think of our influence on those around us as "imprinting." I immediately got distracted thinking of geese and ducks, which I know aren't the only animals who are influenced by … Continue reading Imprinting
Living with Loss
As I sat down to write today about what has been weighing heavily on my heart, I went back through previous posts (as I usually do) to see what/if I've written on the topic previously. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that this is a topic I've written about quite a bit since my diagnosis … Continue reading Living with Loss
When you feel misunderstood …
As I wrote about in the Enneagram post recently, I have often felt misunderstood at various points in my life. It was healing for me to read about how other people who identify with Type 8 on the Enneagram are also often misunderstood, that our intensity and passion are often misidentified as anger, which can … Continue reading When you feel misunderstood …
Book Review: The Choice: Embrace the Possible
When I read one book, the suggestions within my Kindle ap follow that genre. Some time ago, I'd downloaded the book, "The Choice: Embrace the Impossible" by Dr. Edith Egar, a survivor of the Holocaust. To say that I sobbed through much of the book is an understatement. While living with terminal cancer isn't the … Continue reading Book Review: The Choice: Embrace the Possible
Memories
I've been thinking a lot about memories from the perspective of how much my kiddos will remember before my diagnosis of Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) in 2017 and afterwards. At the time of my diagnosis, the boys were two (2) and four (4) and I was legitimately concerned that if the average life … Continue reading Memories
Self-Advocacy
So much of what I write about on this blog is about advocacy, whether that is the specific label I use or not. When I did a search for the key word "advocacy" on this site when writing this post, there were pages of posts that came up, so clearly it is a topic that … Continue reading Self-Advocacy
Enneagram
When I was in law school, my dad was in graduate school to become a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC). To learn how to administer various personality tests, he utilized the six (6) of us kids as guinea pigs and thus I was introduced to the MMPI, the Myers-Briggs testing and others. As I got … Continue reading Enneagram
ReBlog from Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer: Poetry Friday
A blessing for learning to delight again(maybe today could be more than bearable. It could be beautiful.)Blessed are you, the pragmatic,You who have …Poetry Friday
MBC’ers, you are invited!
As many of you know, I've been volunteering with SurvivingBreastCancer.org in various capacities for several years. Recently, we formed the MBC Leadership Team, which I chair, to involve more of the ladies living with MBC in the content and offerings for the MBC Community. You can learn about all of the members of the Team … Continue reading MBC’ers, you are invited!
No Half Measures 