I started this website as a blog when I was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, shortly after moving from Canada to California. I titled the blog “BC Becky” for Breast Cancer Becky. It is an identity that I now hold. I never thought that one day I’d want to hold the identity of ‘breast cancer survivor’, but now, the alternative is definitely not what I want. I set this blog up to give me a space to reflect upon my journey and share it with anyone who is interested in reading it. Writing helps keep me sane, and for that alone it is worth the effort.
I turned a portion of the blog in to a book in 2022, called Never knew I wanted to be a breast cancer survivor.
In 2026, I started a podcast where I share readings from the book and blog, and share my reflections in audio form.
I’m still trying to figure out how to survive, one day at a time.
Quick Cancer info:
- While living in California, diagnosed in 2014 with bilateral invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) ER/PR+ HER2-
- Underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy – ACT
- Double mastectomy with immediate DIEP flap reconstruction
- While living in Bridgewater Nova Scotia Canada, diagnosed in 2023 with a regional recurrence in my right axillary lymph nodes, Triple Positive
- Lymph node dissection
- Chemotherapy – TCH
- Radiation to axilla and colarbone
Becky The Writer
I became a writer by accident. In grade eight, a poor mark on a piece I was proud of convinced me I wasn’t a good writer. I didn’t yet understand that writing is about connecting with your audience (in the case of my English class, the only audience was my teacher).
My first career as a telecommunications product manager introduced me to the world of technical writing. I worked closely with a technical writer, who became my writing mentor. She edited my work, and through that process, I learned the skill of technical writing. This skill set evolved into a career in technical writing and instructional design, roles I’ve succeeded in for over 20 years.
In 2008, my husband and I decided to take a 16-month sabbatical. We cycled across Canada and traveled the world without using airplanes—an adventure we called “Going East.” During this time, I put my writing energies into blogging.
In 2011, I began a PhD in Education, where I helped professors and clinical educator by producing and publishing ebooks for faculty development. But my path took another dramatic turn in 2014, when I was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. The writer in me needed to share my experience. I stepped away from my PhD to focus on my blog, BC Becky, using my writing as a way to process not just the events, but the emotions of living through cancer treatment.
For a second attempt at the PhD, I shifted direction. I knew there was educational value in the blog I had written during treatment and wanted to use it in some way. I explored autoethnography and then discovered evocative autoethnography via Bochner and Ellis. I used my blog as research material for my project, and drafted my first memoir, Never Knew I Wanted to Be a Breast Cancer Survivor, based on my PhD work.
I stopped the PhD in 2020 after completing the first draft of my dissertation, just before the world shut down for the Covid pandemic. We moved back to Canada. Then after two years, I self-published the memoir I had written as part of my dissertation.
I’m now working on an MFA in Creative Nonfiction – I’m learning how to write a good memoir and how to publish books. For my MFA project, I’m working on the Canada portions of our Going East bike trip.
