Recently, a dear friend, Megan Claire Chase a/k/a Warrior Megsie, shared the below video on her social media channels during the month of February, which is also known as Black History Awareness Month. If you don't already follow her on social media, you should definitely do yourself a favor and follow her now -- outside … Continue reading Expert Level: Oppressed
Category: General
Book Review: Peace is a Practice; An Invitation to Breathe Deeply and Find a New Rhythm for Life
Recently, I picked up Peace is a Practice; An Invitation to Breathe Deeply and Find a New Rhythm for Life after following the author, Morgan Harper Nichols on Instagram for a bit. She's an amazing poet, artist, writer and activist who also happens to be on the autism spectrum. From following her and reading her … Continue reading Book Review: Peace is a Practice; An Invitation to Breathe Deeply and Find a New Rhythm for Life
To Bear Witness
We lose friends and acquaintances and people we’ve never met daily to metastatic cancers. Many of us talk about how we are often scared to open social media because of how often we see notices of hospice or decline or death. Some of the last pictures of people we love are horrifying. The suffering we … Continue reading To Bear Witness
Terminal?
Recently, when a friend shared a post I’d written for AdvancedBreastCancer.net on social media, there were a few rather strident responses arguing that Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) isn’t terminal because that label only applies when a medical professional certifies that a person has six (6) months or less to live or when someone … Continue reading Terminal?
Receptors
When I was initially diagnosed and joined some online support groups, I discovered a whole new short-hand utilized by patients and medical professionals to describe the different subtypes of breast cancer. At first, these letters and symbols were quite intimidating and it took me some time to get comfortable and familiar with utilizing and interpreting … Continue reading Receptors
10 days after IV Chemo and an MRI
Ten days ago, on 2/4, I started a combination of medication and it’s been a struggle to do anything for the last ten days. I think the fact that everything started all at once made a difference and that it’s been nearly 5 years since I last had IV chemo. With all the oral therapy … Continue reading 10 days after IV Chemo and an MRI
Things that make you scratch your head …
Transcript of an actual phone call … Me: hello? Caller: calling from specialty pharmacy and after we verify my identity … I’m calling to help you refill your prescription of Xeloda since you are due to receive it. Do you want to pick it up or have it delivered? Me: ok, great, I’ll be at … Continue reading Things that make you scratch your head …
Saying Goodbye …
I'm not saying goodbye to you all now, I was just thinking about a quote I heard recently. I was catching up on all things Criminal Minds, the original, in preparation for watching the final season (not sure how I feel about that) and one of the quotes for an episode was shared like this … Continue reading Saying Goodbye …
Painful expectations
As most of you are aware, I ask a lot of questions in order to set my expectations whenever I start a new treatment or have a procedure and I highly recommend doing this. Whatever the answer, I set my expectations and prepare for whatever I’m told. That might mean how I schedule the days … Continue reading Painful expectations
Remembering the MBC Healing Circle
The earliest communication I can find from Ilene Kaminsky about the MBC Healing Circle was in April of 2021 where she was explaining what a healing circle was, highlighted her training, and invited me to participate. While I'd interacted a bit with Ilene on Twitter at that point, our interactions then were superficial and wholly … Continue reading Remembering the MBC Healing Circle
No Half Measures 