Cancer
Making Friends with My Grief
A conversation with my daughter about the grandfather she never met helped us both heal.
How to help kids cope with a parent’s cancer: interview with an oncology social worker
It is important to understand that a child’s anxiety around a parent’s cancer is an appropriate reaction, and not a sign of mental illness. Counseling and group therapy sessions can help kids develop the tools they need to weather the ups and downs of their parent’s cancer treatment.
Camp Sparkle
On the corner of Broadway and Union, on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, sits an old brick building with a red door, and four stately white columns in front. Magic happens in this building. This building is the home of Gilda’s Club Seattle, and Camp Sparkle. When Gilda Radner was diagnosed with cancer, she learned first hand […]
Still standing
Inspired by a butterfly. February was a difficult month. We moved, which is always stressful, and then there was all the homework for school, and all that was compounded by my illness and two hospitalizations during the month.
Four years… and a shark
I spent the night in the ER last week. I wasn’t a big deal, just a recurring issue that’s a side-effect of a side-effect of my cancer treatment. It’s starting to feel a little routine. This time it was a little different, though. For one thing, the hospital was over-full. This hospital that I usually […]
In the moment
In the Moment: Contemplating a cancerversary (cancer diagnosis anniversary) and embracing moments of pure joy.
Letting the moss grow
a lesson in mindfulness, and enjoying right now.
Just Breathe
Sometimes all we have left is our breath. Sometimes breath is all we need. One more breath, to take us to one more moment. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
Embracing right now
Life is full of beautiful moments, moments where the beauty is not in the image, but in the experience. Sometimes I let myself think that a moment must be documented to be real or precious. Not true.
Halloween Party
On the way to the Halloween party, she started to have second thoughts about her costume. “But, I don’t want to be a dinosaur ballerina.” I assured her that she didn’t have to wear her costume. “I want to be a camel.” “I’m sorry, I don’t have a camel costume.” “Do you have a crocodile […]