How do you really tell your children that one of the most important people in their lives has cancer?
Well, my friends, that cancer circus began eight years ago today. And in my books that makes me an eight-year survivor. I feel an emotional connection with today. It's right up there with my birthday and the birthdays of my three kids.
My medical oncologist asks me how I'm doing "psychologically." And the truth is that most days I'm fine. Although I wish -- of course -- that I didn't have cancer again. I am calm and methodical about my cancer and how I will go about treating it, because now it is just a part of my life.
Wrapping your head around the fact that you or a loved one has cancer is no easy task. After my 46-year-old husband was diagnosed, we were in a state of shock and paralyzed with fear. Here are six things I wish we had known at the beginning of our cancer journey.
When Reddit user freckledsmile posted a link to Angelo Merendino's photo essay of his wife Jennifer's battle with breast cancer, he moved even the mo...
It's only when you stop resisting change and make the best of the moment, "without knowing what's going to happen next," that the universe supports you to create inspired healing, wellness, and live-out-loud joy.
As I meditate on the impact that illness has had on my life, I realize I'm a better, more grateful woman today because of cancer. I was asleep at the wheel before cancer shook me awake. And though there's still no cure, I continue to live harmoniously with cancer.
A cancer diagnosis doesn't just happen to you. It also happens to your family, friends and community. People who were directly or indirectly impacted by my illness sought to identify their roles in my treatment, to figure out what they could contribute to the experience.
Perhaps one day cancer and chemotherapy will visit our family again. But for now I am very happy to escort them from my home. Should my tea time visitors return one day, I'm certain that they'll be bearing the gifts of more life lessons.
That phrase broke through the heavy curtain of my grief. Don't go to the funeral today. It even let a little sunshine in. He was right. Unlike a sudden death, we have more time to live together. We have each day.
The Silver Linings that I have experienced (and continue to experience!) during my cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery help me get through each and every day. I have a tremendous amount of gratitude for the Silver Linings, but you'll never, ever, not in a million years hear me refer to cancer as a gift.
When I was going through my cancer journey, I did it alone. Sure, there were a couple of thoughtful, older guys who were living with prostate cancer who told me that everything would be okay. And while I appreciated their kindness, their journey wasn't quite like mine.
Today, we're launching a new series on HuffPost Healthy Living called Generation Why, exploring the unique set of issues facing today's young adult cancer patients and survivors. Their stories are equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring.
It's not easy for patients (or their loved ones) to cope with a diagnosis of cancer. But if that first reaction is tempered with the knowledge that you don't have to beat cancer in order to have a full life, then it becomes bad news that's somehow easier to take.
I yank my sweater over my shoulders to strategically block the word "cancer" printed across my chest. I don't want to stand out as the biggest downer in Vegas.
Living with uncertainty, I have come to believe that I know things about my body that neither patients nor doctors are taught to value. Here are 10 lessons I've learned while living with chronic illness.
Six people I care about are currently living with a cancer diagnosis, including myself. Cancer is only one of the diseases that requires one to move forward without all of the answers. Each person has to find his or her own way. This is mine.
Cancer is complicated. And being a survivor can be complicated, too -- confounding, confronting, and confusing. Even starting with the word itself. ...
My daughter is only turning 5 years old this year and the thought of not being there for her as she grows up into a young girl, teenager, young adult and a lady breaks my heart into pieces. Nothing scares me more.
Though medical breakthroughs may be in the offing, the Big C still packs a psycho/spiritual wallop for the newly initiated. Here are 10 ways to beat back the cancer blues and be your own best friend.
In many ways, cancer does suck. I know. I received that dreaded phone call on my birthday, of all days, and that day sucked. But the benefit of the journey is experiencing the human spirit like never before.
In a special preview of this weekend’s "Moyers & Company," poet Christian Wiman reads an excerpt from an essay he wrote for the Winter/Spring issue ...
Over time, Komen may find its footing and continue to prosper, or it will be permanently damaged by recent events. My feeling is that we've not heard the last of this issue, but time will tell.
Cancer. It teaches so much, even as it confounds and confuses. James Dean, whose young life was snatched not by cancer but a car crash, wisely advised, "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today."
When my husband was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, I told him "You're going to beat this." He replied, "I don't feel the need to fight cancer. Fight comes out of fear of dying. And I don't have that fear."
