Over the weekend I attended the Casting for Recovery retreat for breast cancer survivors. I initially mentioned the retreat and my ethical dilemma associated with it in this post: Casting for Recovery. The retreat was held at a fishing lodge in Northern California (Indian Creek Lodge). We had the entire lodge booked for us. There…
At one point this afternoon I realized that what I was feeling might just be fatigue – rather than tiredness. I’ve been struggling with a cold all week and that has had me try to take it easy. But when I realized that what I was feeling might be fatigue, I decided that I’d go for a…
Coping with abundance. In this case, it is an abundance of things to do and not nearly enough hours in the day to get them done. When I first was diagnosed, the answers became clear. I prioritized exercise over everything else. I only worked on projects that I enjoyed doing. I let everything else drop.…
My cold still lingers on, although in some ways I’m feeling better. I get tired really easily – and yet I try to get out for at least a short walk each day. The walk gets me away from my computer, and gives my body a chance to stretch out and enjoy the moments of…
I have a cold. This is the first full blown in my chest, sinus full of cotton balls, cold I’ve had in a long time. In many ways I’m lucky. I’m lucky that I managed to get through chemotherapy and my surgeries without getting sick. If I had this cold during chemotherapy it would have…
I am highly aware that my most recent blog posts have all seems rather depressing – or at least that is what I’m sensing. I want to say that I’m not really doing that badly. I’m struggling emotionally, and every physical ill (I have a cold now) amplifies the emotional struggles – but I’m doing…
Hi everyone, I’m conducting a study – I want to look at how breast cancer blogs are impacting people who read breast cancer blogs. I’ve put together a survey that takes about 5 minutes to complete. I am most interested in the final question. I am asking you to please take few minutes and complete this…
This morning I watched the second episode of Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies. This episode struck closer to home, as one of the main characters – Laurie – had bilateral breast cancer (although much more aggressive than mine). She had similar treatments – neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and a bilateral mastectomy. At the end of the…
I am glad to have learned that the PBS mini-series Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies (based on the book – The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer) – is available to watch at http://cancerfilms.org/media-gallery/?media=cancer-the-emperor-of-all-maladies—episode- I wasn’t certain that I would want to watch it. I had learned about the book when I was…
The fear of recurrence is ever present, and yet I’m feeling like I can begin to let go of that worry. I saw my oncologist today about a headache and other pains. They had me scared. The oncologist did some tests and confirmed that is was nothing to worry about – that I should follow up…
