Some days stretch longer than you ever thought possible. You do your best, yet a wave of nausea or a heavy fog in your mind pulls you under. If you’re in treatment, or love someone who is, you know this truth already. Side effects don’t come with an instruction manual. They show up when they…
Read moreTag: cancer
You May Never Get an Answer to “Why Me?”
It is okay that you do not have an answer. We are searching for answers about our lives, retracing steps and examining choices in hopes of finding the reason, explanation, or thing that makes sense out of this senseless diagnosis. The “why” we desperately seek isn’t found by looking backward. It is discovered by looking…
Read moreBrothers and Sisters in Battle: The Unexpected Gift of Connection
The Man in the Waiting Room
He was sitting there when I walked in, just another person in a hospital gown waiting for his name to be called. We exchanged the casual “hello” that strangers offer each other in shared spaces. But there was something different about this hello. It carried weight. Recognition. An unspoken understanding that we were both members of a club nobody volunteers to join.
Read moreLife After Cancer: The Milestones No One Talks About
At the end of my treatment, I was expecting some sense of relief or presence coming out the other side. Instead, I felt utterly confused and lost. There was a nice path to follow up to “remission,” but there’s so much more to that. Here’s what I learned about the milestones we go through on…
Read moreThe Power of Mindset: How Your Thoughts Shape Your Cancer Journey
When I received my cancer diagnosis, I discovered something that decades of surgical training hadn’t fully prepared me for: the profound impact our thoughts have on how we experience treatment and recovery. Through my own journey and in supporting countless others, I’ve witnessed a fundamental truth—the quality of your life after diagnosis depends largely on…
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