-
Books for Summer 2022
Since I wasn’t able or in the mindset to read books last year, I’ve decided to dive right back into them now that my brain is back. Here’s a quick list of what I’ve been reading recently! Find these at your local bookstore, or I’ve included the Amazon links below. What I’ve Read Mystery/SuspenseThe Kind…
-
Chemo for Ewing’s Sarcoma – An Overview
Overview of Chemo Treatmentfor Ewing’s Sarcoma The worst part of my cancer treatment was chemo. Looking back on it, I can’t wrap my head around how I got through it. And I didn’t even complete the planned course. I was told over the phone how my chemo regimen would go about 5 days before receiving…
-
Nothing Short of a Living Hell
I started a post about my chemo treatment. I want to share the ins and outs and ups and downs of it, and I want to provide more detail and emotion than what I may have written on Caringbridge. So I started writing the post and going back and researching the names of the drugs…
-
PTSD Awareness
I don’t believe notifications were sent out about my last post (it has a few more details about our recent trip to Utah and Grand Canyon). But you can view it here! Today (June 27, 2022) is PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) Awareness Day. There’s a day for everything now. Donuts, llamas, sunglasses, flipping a coin…
-
The Trip of a New Lifetime: Utah and the Grand Canyon
It’s going to be fairly difficult for me to put my one year Whippleversary trip into words. But I’ll give it a go and try to keep it organized. As I shared in my last post, after chemo treatment, a Whipple surgery, and more chemo, I finally began to feel like I was sort of…
-
Celebrating My One Year Whippleversary
My one year what-a-what?? My Whippleversary! The surgery I had to remove my cancer is called a Whipple (we’ll get more into those deets another time). And thus, those who have been “Whipped” celebrate their Whippleversaries. My surgery took place on June 1, 2021. I was under the knife for almost 8 hours. I was…
-
Things You Should Say to a Cancer Patient
I previously wrote a short list of things you probably shouldn’t say to someone diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully, there’s a flip-side of things that cancer patients want to hear – need to hear. The following list contains words that I could never get enough of during treatment. “I’m praying for you.” I believe that no…
-
Things You May Not Want to Say to a Cancer Patient
At first, I was going to title this “Absolutely Do Not Say These Things to a Cancer Patient.” But in reality, some of these things are hard not to say to someone in a difficult situation. We will never know exactly how another feels and we don’t know for sure how they will respond to…
-
Scanxiety
Scan + Anxiety = Scanxiety And this is what so many cancer patients feel before, during, and after each scan (MRI, CT, etc). Whether it’s a scan for active cancer or surveillance, each one contains so many what-ifs. I remember my first scan after four rounds of chemo. I was praying SO hard that there…
-
How I Got Cancer
Ok, I’m going to get into some really deep scientific stuff on how I got my rare cancer. The truth is… I have no stinkin’ clue. Some cancers are genetic, inherited from our parents. You or someone you know may be in this situation. Perhaps breast cancer runs in your family and you’re on top…
-
That Time I Was Diagnosed with a Rare Cancer (Part II)
I continued to record several videos over the following weeks. Not knowing a specific diagnosis kept me moving through each day as if everything was going to be alright, and talking to the camera was cathartic.
-
That Time I Was Diagnosed with a Rare Cancer (Part I)
I’m not here to tell you how to respond to a diagnosis. I’m here to share my own experience and my own reactions, and maybe some of it will resonate with you. Or maybe you’re a caregiver and it will help you understand some things your loved one is going through.
-
Welcome! This is My Story, This is My Song
I have a story to share. A story of pain, despair, physical and mental torture . . . And hope. I want to share my valley of the shadow of death because someone may need this one day. Because my cancer is so rare that there’s no one else who can relate. I am one…
Living Rarely
Life After Ewing's Sarcoma of the Pancreas