Living With Uncertainty
We all live with uncertainty. We wake up each morning not knowing for sure what the day will bring; and yet we act as though it will go as planned. Most often, it does.Every one of us hungers for...
View ArticleHoliday Update
It’s Christmas morning, and the house is quiet. This is the beginning of the downslide to the church’s “quiet season” of winter, having worked basically full time hours for the past several weeks. We...
View ArticleA Fond Farewell
I had a visit with my oncologist today. Due to mild neuropathy but otherwise good results from chemo, this week’s treatment will be my last. Any further treatment besides radiation will be determined...
View ArticleBeach, Bingo, Bishop, Book, and Bald
I’ve had a good month since my last post. Many people continue to express their loving support, and it is comforting to know so many are thinking of me. Work has gone well, and I’m thrilled to report...
View ArticleSurgery Update
I'm home, after about 30 hours in the hospital. The surgeon was very pleased at the outcome, and I'm feeling pretty good. I still use the pain meds and I'm moving slowly, but I am moving.My friend is...
View ArticlePathology And Prognosis
I saw my oncologist this morning, and here's what you and I have been waiting to hear: she gives me a 75% chance of NO recurrence. Here's why:I have been hit with both barrels of the shotgun with...
View ArticleThe Last Word
Monday I saw my speech therapist. Wait: let me back up and explain WHY I have a speech therapist. Apparently during mastectomy surgery four weeks ago, the anesthesiologist scarred my right vocal cord...
View ArticleBreathless
I saw my ENT yesterday because my throat was sore in spite of not speaking for a couple of weeks. He worked with my radiation doctor to get me into surgery tomorrow (Thursday). The node that is on my...
View ArticleSpectator
Has it really been that long since I've updated? I'm sorry to keep you in the dark about my progress.When I had to have the throat surgery, I didn't realize what a hit I would take with that news. It...
View ArticleThe Titles I've Inherited
A few months ago, while I was in the midst of chemotherapy, I was driving home with the convertible roof down. I wore a scarf to cover my bald head. As I waited for the light to change, I heard someone...
View ArticleOrdinary Time
Treatment is over. I had the last radiation appointment on Wednesday. Now it's just healing from the effects of radiation—pretty strong in my case—and then follow-up visits here and there. This is...
View ArticleBalanced
Three days ago, my breast prosthesis arrived. It’s not a perfect match, but it’s close enough. I have a balanced appearance now. Honestly, I really didn’t care, but others were uncomfortable seeing me...
View ArticleVerbatim: Cat Instructions
Sheba is living with us until she can get back to school. She brought her cats with her, and they live in her bedroom. She's visiting family in California and left instructions on feeding the kitties....
View ArticleOverheard: Preschool
It's pick-up time at the summer preschool, which meets on the same floor as my office. Two teachers: "So I said to him, 'Give Ben back his tiara.'" Two dads: "She wanted to name him Luke—that's his...
View ArticleSpring Break: New York City
I had only three days in New York City, but it was a total blast. What made it so was meeting up with friends who lived there. (I should have a lot more pictures, but I was having such a good time that...
View ArticleSpring Break: Connecticut
On Thursday morning I took the Megabus to Connecticut, to meet for the first time a friend I’d made through our common experience with breast cancer. A month after I was diagnosed, a friend wrote me to...
View ArticleSpring Break: Asheville
In the thirty years that Abe and I have been in Indiana, we have made almost all our friends at the church where I’m now employed. Of those friends, four couples have become our inner circle. One of...
View ArticleSpring Break: Helen, Georgia
From Asheville we drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway, a fantastic two-lane road which runs 500 miles through the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Smoky...
View ArticleI'm Ready For My Closeup, Mr. DeMille
Everyone else was gone, and it just needed to be done.
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