Tag: cancer - Part 4
Survivor Scars: Embarrassing, Difficult Reminders or Sources of Pride?
Most adults have scars. However, cancer survivors often have distinctive physical and emotional scars. In this first post of a two-part series on scars, I focus on psychical scars, saving a discussion about emotional scars for my next blog. In total, I have eight recognizable scars from cancer. A couple scars are noticeable, while my…
Sarah Bray Suggests for Valentine’s Day, I Should Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter
Borrowed from Sharon Bray, Writing Through Cancer (www.writingthroughcancer.com) “Breathe in,” my yoga teacher spoke softly as she led us through a closing meditation. “Fill yourself with gratitude,” she said. I inhaled, filling my lungs with air, and then exhaled slowly, trying to clear my mind–a perpetually challenging task. “Gratitude.” I silently repeated the word to…
How I Moved Forward
Hello! Today, I begin blogging at CancerFoward. I’m a graduate student at Rice University in Houston and a 6-year cancer survivor. Social media led me to CancerForward when cancer survivor and former Texas Representative Ellen Cohen tweeted about an award CancerForward had given her. The idea of CancerForward…an online organization supporting cancer survivors…really resonated with…
What to Expect When you’re Expecting — a Mastectomy
A cancer diagnosis reminds us of all that’s uncontrollable in life. As does cancer treatment. Because patients are not only warriors on the front line in the war on cancer. We’re also the battlefield itself; regardless of whether the bombs are dropped by the good guys or the bad guys, they still fall on us….
Ten Years of Christmases
When I awoke December 25, 2000, everything in my life was at its best, or so I thought. I was the magical age of 45…that place in the continuum where respectable adults can still wear the fringe of unbridled youth, or at least hope to…try to. I celebrated the first year of the millennium with…