Lung Cancer Awareness Month – Link Love
Today is the last day of Lung Cancer Awareness Month for 2019. I have neglected to blog about it this year, I think I never quite recovered from posting a memorial per day for every day in November back in…
A Light for Marisa
When one of my friends is nearing the end, I shift into a dualistic state of being. Even as I go on with my daily life, I think of that person constantly, checking in, touching base with common friends who…
The Positivity Paradox (Update #18)
In the last few months it feels like I’ve shifted into a new phase of life with a Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis. In September, I surpassed 5 years on a medication that has a median effective time of…
Update #17 — False Alarm!
When I was growing up, one of my very favorite movies was Grease. The last few weeks I kept thinking of the scene where Rizzo yells out to everyone at the carnival: “It was a false alarm!” She was referring…
Update #16 – Can’t Have the Positive Without the Negative
Doctors have told me since the very beginning of my diagnosis that my disease is incurable and terminal. Yet, almost 5 years on my current medication has encouraged my, perhaps fanciful, belief that somehow, just maybe, I can escape what…
Mother’s Day 2019 – How My Mom Balances Me
Four years ago I wrote a Letter to my Mom. I cried as I wrote it, unsure how many more opportunities I’d have to share my love and appreciation for her on Mother’s Day. I still don’t know how many…
CEA Snakes & Sticks
Three days after my last scan, I went in for my monthly labs. I wasn’t worried because my scan had come back unchanged from previous months and I thought I was in the clear for another 12 week interval. Of…
Live Every Day Like It’s Your _First_ (Update # 15)
Last year I met with a shaman (side note: it was totes kosher because he was half-Jewish – a Sh’ma’n?). The shaman was awesome, and mostly what you probably imagine a shaman to be: wise, magical, smelling of sage. He…
Reminder: Anyone With Lungs Can Get Lung Cancer
Last week, I got a message out of the blue from an acquaintance: “Lisa – I just wanted to send you a note of thanks for sharing your experience and being so open. I went to get a chest X-ray…
If a Milestone Falls in the Forest, Does it Still Make a Sound? (Update #14)
Five years ago today, I checked into the hospital for an out-patient biopsy that was supposed to be NBD and woke up to the worst news of my life. In general, I don’t mark my “cancerversaries.” I prefer to reserve…
