About Angels, Infusions & Test Anxiety

Posted On: June 16, 2018
Comments: No Responses One-plus year ago, I received the blessed news that my Care Crew and their amazing arsenal had won the cancer war inside of me. Of course, the journey carries on anyway, like a long, lost…

“Great News! You Don’t Have Cancer!”

Posted On: February 12, 2018
Comments: 6 Responses So said Dr. Finger when he burst into the room as he flipped me a print-out of test results that had otherwise been kept secret. “Get-T-F-Outa-Here!” I shouted in awe as I threw a Town…

Waiting, Waiting

Posted On: January 1, 2018
Comments: 2 Responses Returning for scans and tests brings a memory flood that’s like a dam breaking in the brain. A dam one’s worked damn hard to build. Revisionist history morphs into Fake Truths. It wasn’t so bad…

Happy Cancer-versary to Me!

Posted On: October 10, 2017
Comments: 12 Responses What a long, strange journey it’s been! In fact, it’s been so long, so strange, that I no longer bristle when people refer to cancer as a “journey.” Or when people butcher Grateful Dead lyrics…

5.5 Songs that Cure Cancer, Part 1

Posted On: June 10, 2017
Comments: 2 Responses My Harpo-Meets-Eraserhead era has ended, or at least gone to the bathroom. It’s too hot for such. And despite some good coaching from curly women, I had a hard time mastering Kinky Management. My lovely…

Keep on Rockin’ in the Cancer-free World!

Posted On: May 4, 2017
Comments: 4 Responses In this cancer Afterworld, life is sometimes a b*tch, but often bliss. Blissy vibes happened the night I threw a spontaneous “Survivor Party & Sing-Along” at Honey, a pal’s suave nightclub. Scores of friends showed…

About Sickness, Nightmares, and Sleep…

Posted On: March 2, 2017
Comments: No Responses Today my heart is anywhere warm and sunny. My body is stuck in Minnesota. And my ass is on the nearest horizontal surface. Because I’ve been hit with that fatigue everyone’s been warning me about…

How Root Canal Became Cool

Posted On: December 9, 2016
Comments: 4 Responses Radiation feels a marathon. Side effects are in full bloom and making breathing an experiment in pharmaceuticals. Yet I’m staggering toward the finish line—sometimes even smug about my endurance. That’s a clue, right on cue,…

The Serious Side of Cancer & Comedy

Posted On: November 29, 2016
Comments: 8 Responses I’m pleased to report that radiation is now half over. Some caregivers whispered, “You’ll sail right through this,” while Dr. Ray and others warned of breathing difficulties, nasal-sludge discharge, and other side effects too rude…

The Road to Bell

Posted On: November 19, 2016
Comments: 9 Responses The journey continues, rather like the band Journey’s songs that have everyone—toddlers, stadiums full of sports-fan losers, and the cast in the pilot, epic episode of Glee—singing, “Don’t Stop Believing” for decades now. I’ve finished…