Cancer
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Mary Oliver
Nothing important enough to take up your time except this. Poet Mary Oliver died this week on January 17th. She was important enough in my life to acknowledge her passing here. The comfort and introspection I derived from her writing while I was going through cancer treatment was lifesaving. I don’t read a lot of… Continue reading
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Three Years
Unless you have or have had cancer, you won’t appreciate the significance of the title of this post. Cancer anniversaries, regrettably nicknamed “cancerversaries” (see “anywho,” “guestimate”), are measured not from diagnosis, but from end of treatment. I don’t know about all protocols, but mine consisted of six weeks of radiation (5 days per week, about… Continue reading
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Really, American Cancer Society?
The American Cancer Society emailed me concerned about my absence and asking for my help in completing a short survey about what cancer issues I want to support. I replied that I’m a little concerned, too, ACS, because nowhere in the survey is lung cancer even mentioned on the list of issues. There’s breast cancer… Continue reading
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Shout-out, Shut-in & Sh*t I Don’t Understand
Shout out! Geez. Two months since my last post? I know, hard to believe, and me such a prolific poster. No health-related reason for my absence other than, apparently, my mind has descended to the point where I am no longer able to multi-task, or even find the words to complete a coherent sentence. Hey!… Continue reading
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Cat scans
I was working on a post about the persistent, underlying, aggravating, self-absorbing fear that takes over your life when you have cancer, but I’ll save it for another day. I have quarterly CT/PET scans coming up in a couple of weeks, and I’m in the midst of fending off a little bout of “scanxiety.” It… Continue reading
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Juxtaposition
Yesterday when I was goofing around with changing the theme on this blog, I took a break from my silliness and visited a few of the blogs I frequent. While reading, I found out another lung cancer blogger died. You get introduced to them through a shared condition. You get to know them and their… Continue reading
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Positively something
Before we get into the weeds, it occurs to me that I don’t usually post updates on my health status like most other cancer bloggers do. It feels a little like boasting to announce “Look at me! I’m NED!” (See Introvert below.) As if something I did is the reason for my good fortune. Especially… Continue reading
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Memories
These days it’s hard to find a breath of fresh air in the midst of the suffocating, soul-sucking black cloud that engulfs us all 24-7; namely, Donald Trump and his syndicate of grifters, ghouls and goofballs. Between lung cancer and Trump-drama, good things sometimes get buried in my worry pile. I savor all the bright… Continue reading
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And the winner is…
During treatment last year at MD Anderson, I passed many idle hours in various waiting rooms holding awards shows in my head, judging the bald pates of fellow cancer travelers. The Baldies. The Noggins. The GI Janes. I never settled on a name. I started with a single category of Best Shaped Head, but depending… Continue reading
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PTSD
Hey there. It’s been a while. My latest scans (September) were clear. Again. Another 3-month reprieve. I’m clear a year after my last chemo, 18 months after diagnosis. Not notable by lung cancer survival statistics, but considering I didn’t think I’d be around at all, it’s somethin’. I’m doing very well, aside from the pesky… Continue reading
About Me
This blog started out as letters to my dog maizie but devolved into meaningless observations from a half-deaf cancer alumnus introvert navigating the noise you other people make.
DEARMAIZIE 