Recently, I moderated a discussion with some dear friends about October and the experience of those of us with breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness/Action Month (BCAM). You can find that live discussion here: https://fb.watch/gvxHX_dG27/. We'd hosted a similar panel at the beginning of October last year and wanted to do something a little different … Continue reading Reflecting on October, 2022
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.
Happy Halloween
When I was young, there were different factors that meant we didn't do traditional trick or treating. There was that scare in the 80s with people putting needles in apples or ground glass in other candy -- I'm still not sure why that happened and it certainly left a scar since I inspect everything very … Continue reading Happy Halloween
A Moment of Tenderness …
This post comes from a pop up writing workshop with Wildfire, "the only magazine and writing community for the women "too young" for breast cancer." I've written before about how I've been honored to have some of my writing published in various issues of Wildfire over the years (and will again in the upcoming MBC … Continue reading A Moment of Tenderness …
As if I needed the reminder …
As if I needed the reminder that I'm not as healthy now as before cancer, a unknown bug landed me in the hospital with sepsis a few weeks ago, the week Hurricane Ian hit Florida to be exact and I've been really sick since then. We are pretty sure that one of the two germ … Continue reading As if I needed the reminder …
My Invisible Work …
This post comes from a pop up writing workshop with Wildfire, "the only magazine and writing community for the women "too young" for breast cancer." I've written before about how I've been honored to have some of my writing published in various issues of Wildfire over the years (and will again in the upcoming MBC … Continue reading My Invisible Work …
Book Review: On Repentance and Repair by Danya Ruttenberg
Recently, I read On Repentance and Repair; Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, and so many things that have been rattling around in my heart and mind have become more clear to me about these important topics. We all come from somewhere and my own experiences with the Christian interpretation of … Continue reading Book Review: On Repentance and Repair by Danya Ruttenberg
Writing as Healing
It's hard to remember a time when writing in some fashion wasn't part of how I process the world and my place in it. When moving recently, I came across a box full of journals from various points in time and it was fascinating how much my writing and my processing has changed over the … Continue reading Writing as Healing
Setting Intentions
I have signed up at a variety of places over the years for emails and thus I get a ton of emails every day. Wading through my inbox the other day, I came across an email talking about setting intentions. Now, I'm most familiar with this term in the context of yoga, where we set … Continue reading Setting Intentions
Thinking about October, 2022
Every year around this time, I start to see lots and lots and lots of ads about breast cancer and breast cancer awareness -- to be honest, it starts earlier and earlier each year. October is the month that is set aside for Breast Cancer Awareness month (BCAM) and whenever I start to think that … Continue reading Thinking about October, 2022
Coping
Within the support groups that I attend and moderate, we often talk about coping; about living with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) and how we do that. Sometimes I despair about how verbiage just doesn't match the MBC experience since it cannot fully describe the highs and lows that we all experience at one … Continue reading Coping
No Half Measures 