May flowers

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text

joke-clipart-happy

If April showers bring May flowers what do Mayflowers bring?

Pilgrims

(Laugh track plays)

Thanks folks you’re too kind I’ll be here all night.

 

Corny jokes aside, this May I really am planting seeds and watching things bloom.

First on the list of seeds planted, on May 5th I’ll have the honor of delivering the keynote member address at Gilda’s Club Westchester’s 16th Annual Gala being held at the Botanical Gardens. (more…)

Parties weren’t meant to last

Blogpost11 (3)If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text

I am a known Prince super fan. Within hours of his passing last week I received half a dozen calls and texts from friends and family to see if I was OK.  I was not unaffected by the news of  Prince’s death, but it didn’t have the impact on me that seemed expected.  Although I am a dedicated Paisley Parker, I didn’t cry about the news of Prince’s death. I didn’t even pause for a moment in his purple honor.  What made my heart stop was the realization that I could not mourn with my partner in all things Prince, my childhood bff, Roni . (more…)

Less is More

Blogpost10 (1)If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text


I had almost everything I needed and wanted. Or at least that’s  what I believed before  I was diagnosed.  From my current perspective I can see the word “almost”  in that sentence was a self imposed barrier to actually having it all, which is what I said I wanted.  Even the phrase “having it all” makes having more than enough a shortcoming.  I no longer see having it all as a worthwhile ambition.  Having just enough is not my goal either.  I respect the minimalist movement but I’m still more comfortable living beyond what is necessary.   I prefer a little fat to bare bones.  It’s the excess wanting that I am trying to get rid of. The redundancy of collecting stuff is getting to be too much.  
(more…)

Witness

Blogpost9 (1)

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text

It occurs to me that a lot of my writing about cancer takes me to my experience with epilepsy as child. I didn’t have support groups, social workers, or websites to turn to for guidance back then so I journaled and wrote poetry as a way to process all that I was living through. I remember being offered profiles of epileptic heroes.  People like Harriet Tubman, and Julius Cesar were held up as examples of how people with epilepsy could go on to great things.

(more…)

Post Postponed

Blogpost8

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text

April is National Poetry Month.  I thought this month it would fun to share some of the poetry I wrote in the past. It surprises me how relevant some of the poems I wrote way before my diagnosis are to my cancer journey. I guess you’re never really separate from your past. The poem below is still a favorite even though as I mature I recognize it’s a bit trite.  When I wrote it I recall that I thought it was profound, as perhaps the most simple and widely used ideas are. (more…)

Putting Cancer on Notice

Blogpost7 (1)

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text


I shudder at “shoulds.” “You should do this” Or “you shouldn’t do that” are often tinged with moral absolutism, a premise that I began to question when I had my first seizure at 10 years old. If good behavior “should” yield favorable results then I “shouldn’t” have epilepsy was my reasoning. (more…)

When Life Gives Lemons

TitlePost6 (2)

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text


I’ve said before that I was alone when I found out that I had cancer. But in a manner of speaking no one who faces cancer does so alone. Having cancer sets us apart from the rest of the world at the same time it connects us with millions.

(more…)

Breakfast Breakdown: Anemia


Blogpost5 If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text


As a cowboy might say, chemotherapy was not my first rodeo.  I grew up with epilepsy. My neurologist prescribed a number of toxic medications, many with long lists of side effects. At eleven years old I suffered from severe drowsiness as a result of one of the drugs. My doctor suggested I drink a cup of strong coffee, which did the trick.

(more…)

Facetime: A Cleansing Facial Massage

TitlePost4 (1)

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text in two parts. Part one of the audio appears below the introductory post.  Part two appears below the section titled How To Give A Cleansing Massage.


She caught my eye when she walked into the infusion center.  She had brown skin, like me.  She was close to 50 years old, like me.  She appeared physically strong and self-sufficient, like me.  She came here alone, like me.  By most measures we had more in common with each other than with most others in pre-chemo waiting.   (more…)

A Buddy System for Courage

Blogpost3

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text.

When my oncologist suggested chemotherapy I panicked. The word chemotherapy played like a movie in my mind fast-forwarding then stopping on scenes of frailty, vomiting, total loss of appetite, and incapacitation. As I began treatments I still had visions of potential pain and suffering even though doctors and breast cancer survivors assured me that the chemo I was being prescribed wasn’t what I imagined. (more…)

Skip to toolbar