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.

Medical Treatment during a Pandemic, Part II

My first post, Part I, was all about my admission to the hospital after I’d been tested for COVID-19 and how weird it was. Medical treatment during a pandemic is not fun at all. Impersonal medical facilities are even more so when everyone you encounter is scared of catching something from you, the patient. Plus, … Continue reading Medical Treatment during a Pandemic, Part II →

Grief and Love; Love and Grief

I’ve been staring at this blank screen for weeks. I want to write. I want, no, I need to write in order to get this grief out of my head/heart and into something more manageable. The fact that I’ve had a worrisome PET, that my new meds are proving complicated to handle, and the fact … Continue reading Grief and Love; Love and Grief →

Surprise Billing, Part II

Let’s set the scene ... You have spent some time in the hospital, had a serious illness, and you receive excellent care, so you are able to come home. It takes a few days but you start feeling back to your normal. As you begin to exhale and get immersed in your life again, you … Continue reading Surprise Billing, Part II →

Surprise Billing, Part I

Going to the hospital can be an extremely stressful experience. Receiving surprise bills in the weeks, months or even years after said hospital stay is even more stressful. For those of us who see doctors regularly and often have hospital stays interspersed throughout the year, it can be overwhelming. First, let’s define surprise billing. Broadly … Continue reading Surprise Billing, Part I →

What could have been done differently?

I ask people this question regularly. Why? When I was actively practicing, while it's good to solve a problem in the moment, it's also super important to create a system to avoid that issue in the future. Now, I ask this question of surviving spouses all the time, especially when their spouse has been murdered … Continue reading What could have been done differently? →

Love and Metastatic Breast Cancer

This article was originally published in 2018 in Wildfire Magazine. You should do yourself a favor and get a subscription immediately!! I'm reproducing my article today, on the anniversary of my beloved husband's birth. At the time of my de novo metastatic diagnosis, my husband and I had been together for nearly 12 years and … Continue reading Love and Metastatic Breast Cancer →

Medical Treatment during a Pandemic, Part I

Recently, in the middle of the current pandemic, I needed medical treatment on a weekend, of course! We’d avoided the need for some additional help as long as possible, availed ourselves of the telemedicine options, and did as much electronically as possible, but I just needed more. Even in this amazing age of technology, sometimes … Continue reading Medical Treatment during a Pandemic, Part I →

Courtesy

Recently, I was sitting in a waiting room at my cancer center within the breast cancer clinic, which isn't the most pleasant of places, also I hate to wait, so I'm usually irritated just having to sit there.  The room was full of women in various stages of treatment, many sporting the typical trappings of … Continue reading Courtesy →

Entering in

I’ve written before about Holding Space for others, i.e., sitting with someone in crisis rather than trying to fix it or give advice, and the Ring Theory of how people in the epicenter of a crisis should be supported and never dumped on. This post could be considered part II of either post or maybe … Continue reading Entering in →

Gossip

I hate gossip. Hate it with a passion. The definition of gossip I've relied upon is that if a person isn't part of a problem or the solution, then conversation with that person about someone else equals gossip. And gossip is incredibly damaging. I've lived my professional life understanding and living the confidentiality that I … Continue reading Gossip →