I had scans last week. Everything still looks good, with the caveat that there is a small amount of fluid in my lungs that wasn’t there last time. This could indicate cancer activity, but my oncologist feels it’s most likely…
A couple of weeks ago, I had my regularly scheduled CT scans. (Update #23/Tldr; the scans were stable/good, knock wood.) I haven’t posted about it yet for two reasons. First, my editor rejected my original draft because I joked about…
My friend Tori Tomalia died early on Tuesday morning February 23rd, and I’ve been a little numb. It took me hours to utter the words aloud, even to my husband, and the tears have yet to come. Honestly, I feel…
Last week, I presented a talk titled “Patient-Directed Innovation, Research and Clinical Trials” at the IASLC’s World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC). Originally, I was supposed to present this live in Singapore last August, but due to the pandemic, the…
I was taking an exercise class the other day and the teacher (Jess Sims, love) ranted about how crappy it is to say “everything happens for a reason” to someone who’s struggling. “There’s just no good reason for some things…
Hello – long time, no blog/chat. Got a little distracted with … attempting to merge with my couch? I’ve been pondering a longer “deep thoughts” blog, but my pandemic brain is not cooperating with actual writing. In the meantime, I…
Every few weeks, Facebook shows me a “FB memory” of something I posted previously. Whenever this happens, I immediately classify the memory as either “BCD” (before cancer diagnosis), or “ACD.” Today, for the very first time, a memory popped up,…
In 2014, when I was diagnosed, my son was in 5th grade and my ambitious goal was to live to see him graduate elementary school. Next year he is set to graduate high school (zoinks!). In the meantime, countless people…
Last week I discovered that some rats had claimed my backyard daybed as their personal restroom. Initially horrified, I avoided it for several days. Finally, armed with gloves, a pressure hose and a lot of bleach, I began the task…
I have been isolating with my family since March 11. Today is day 20, the “Clean the vacuum HEPA filters day,” a day which I have never before reached in my 47+ years on this planet. It is also the…
