Strong. Fighting. Surviving.

I was sitting at a stoplight and she walked right in front of my bumper. She looked tired and drained, relieved that Monday was finally over. I tried to envision her job and pictured her as a receptionist (I was a receptionist for about three months and hated every minute of it). I thought about [...]

(Okay, so I’m recycling something I wrote for PanCAN’s Web site. I’m just so tickled to see it on their site.) Devastating.One word to describe the overwhelming realization that PanCAN’s Survivor and Caregiver Network did not contain any volunteers who had metastases in all the same locations as I. I spent hours reading and rereading [...]

As far as colors go, purple is okay. I’ve always preferred green and think that Barney is partially to blame for my discrimination against purple. Many months ago I received a purple bracelet in the mail. I didn’t think much about it and threw it in one of our various junk drawers. After all, if [...]

It’s not a suggestion or a request. It’s firm, yet gentle and leaves no room for doubt. I’ve spent hours concentrating on it, coaxing it into existence. It’s with me wherever I go. I see it when I’m stuck in traffic or in a long meeting. Like a scrolling screen saver, it slowly creeps across [...]

A humble and heartfelt hi to everyone. Humble because, as you will quickly learn, this is my shameless plea for money. Heartfelt because that’s how I seem to be living my life these days. This story is divided into two parts: the first half is me begging for money for PanCAN’s Annual TeamHOPE Walk, the [...]

Ms. Paxton? I’m Judy. Follow me. (Oh, great. Here we go.)I assumed she was talking to me since I was the only person left in the waiting room. I followed her down the corridor where construction workers looked up and gave me a smile. I wasn’t in the mood to flirt, so I just stared [...]

  Analysis paralysis: over-analysis of an issue to the point where it can no longer be recognized, often resulting in lack of appropriate action. I started looking for my kick-ass cancer shirt the day after I was diagnosed. I’ve been known to agonize over clothing before, but this was bordering on insane. There were just [...]