Have you decided your funeral arrangements? Have you even thought about them? What, where, when and how do you want your body to spend its eternity returning to star dust? The options, these days, are endless. My emotions over the pending Chemo 4 infusion bubbled over today, and tears spilled over life & death, unresolved…
Category: Life & Death
Stage IV
What is your favourite season? What is your most favourite thing to do in that season? What is something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet done? What is your biggest wish? Now close your eyes and imagine you’ve just been told you have Stage IV cancer and only 6 months to live. What…
Forgive me, Father, it’s been 3 months since my last Breast Cancer diagnosis
March 3, 2017 – My best friend Terri and I walked out of the surgeon’s office with a sheet of paper clutched in my hand, knowing for a fact that I had breast cancer. The report said so. Highly invasive ductal carcinoma. My body, mind and soul had known a little longer. Dr. X was completely honest…
Carly … My souldog
We shouldn’t have Carly. I almost didn’t take her. When I realized we had walked into a puppy mill, I told 12-year-old Matthew that we wouldn’t be taking a puppy. I had picked him up at a Friday night birthday party, and driven 1.5 hours to Colborne, Ontario to get this pup on July 16,…
Daffodils for Mother’s Day
I’ve pretty much always had Mother’s Day covered via one angle or another. My Mom lived to be ninety-two. By the time she passed away in 2013, I had already been a mother myself for 15 years. While I’ve usually looked back and reminisced on Mother’s Day … this year I look ahead into an…
Girl Code
I have surrounded myself with the best women … cultivated relationships and deep friendships with strong, smart, silly, sassy and sexy women. We all have one thing in common … we have each other’s back. These are strong women who can stand on their own two feet. These are smart women who know how to…
Annie … My heartdog
Annie was only 8 months old or so when she was rescued from a northern Canadian community and placed into foster care with our dog rescue. And she was pregnant. January 8, 2015 she gave birth to seven beautiful puppies … but Annie was struggling. With poor nutrition and no prenatal care, her body wasn’t…
Cancer doesn’t see racism … or does it?
I ran into my neighbour Carrie yesterday … she is lovely. Inside and out. We always run into each other when she is completing a spiritual journey and I am beginning one. I treasure her words, her advice and her friendship. She is brilliant and I have the utmost respect for her. I crave and…
“You almost make me want cancer!”
“Nobody does cancer like you do!” “They (the nurses and doctors) will never forget you!” “You almost make me want cancer! How do you manage to make even cancer look like an adventure?!” I take those comments as compliments! Yes … I am giving cancer a different (fresh) face and attitude. You get to see…
The High Co$t of Cancer
I have been trying to piece together a CAD$ price tag on my cancer treatment since my surgery. I’ve asked my surgeon, Dr. X, what my diagnosis and surgery cost. He threw some numbers around – $1k for the OR for an hour, triple that for the attending staff, the nuclear dyes – but he…
The cellular warfare of Chemotherapy
Why do I feel like I should be singing Pat Benatar’s Love is a Battlefield as I write this blog entry? This post is dedicated to my chemical warefare … Doxorubicin – Adriamycin – Red Devil is the first chemotherapy drug in my regimen. It stops the growth of cells by blocking an enzyme called…
My Estate of Mind
I can picture that photo being at my funeral. It’s so full of life and love. And pure joy. I did achieve pure joy on this planet. The sky is so blue … the sun is so golden … And I love that moment with Carly, my chocolate lab mix. Today is Day 2 of…
Fox Diaries 