What Binds Us, Doesn’t Hold Us Together

Posted May 13th, 2010

I work for a legal aid organization in Philadelphia, the Legal Clinic for the Disabled, Inc., as a staff attorney.  Many of those I help either are being treated for cancer, or have been treated for it in the past. One of the things that has struck me in the two plus years of working […]

The CancerLand Bookshelf: My Tree Called Life

Posted May 9th, 2010

Early May and I’m in the backyard, digging up weeds in the garden. And as I dig around the lilies (still leafing), and the irises (already in bloom: pale yellow, ghostly white and deep purple), I think back five years ago to when this rectangular patch of earth was waist-high in weeds: tall, green exceptionally […]

The CancerLand Bookshelf: Called Back: My Reply to Cancer, My Return to Life

Posted May 5th, 2010

Radiation. Crazy time. I thought I had forgotten those seven weeks. But reading Mary Cappello’s cancer memoir stirs up some distant radiation memories that are now playing back in my head like a rerun of some bad Lifetime movie. To fill in some of the missing pieces, I dig out my journal from 1999, read […]

The CancerLand Bookshelf: Not Done Yet: Living Through Breast Cancer

Posted May 2nd, 2010

She was a great nodder: a person sitting in the audience smiling and nodding her head while I was speaking. I love great nodders. When I stand in front of a room full of people leading a workshop, I’m always on the lookout for them. Once the session begins, I scan the room and the […]

The CancerLand Bookshelf: Introduction

Posted April 26th, 2010

These days there’s no support group for what ails me. And if you ask me, there ought to be. True confession time: I’m totally hooked on books written by fellow survivors, and have been since my own cancer diagnosis more than ten years ago. Sure, there are nastier habits to own up to, but the […]

“Clarity or Insanity?” Or “The Toilet Theme”

Posted April 19th, 2010

For about two years before my diagnosis, I had high fevers and night sweats like clockwork, every three to four months. I would start getting teeth chattering, body shaking, chills, and my temperature would glide upward. Over time, I also developed a cough and very itchy skin. To any oncologist, this would be recognized in […]

Lucky Number Seven

Posted April 4th, 2010

2003, in hindsight, was one of the best years of my life. At the time, it seemed pretty awful. It got off to a really bad start. In December 2002, my second relapse (of Hodgkin’s lymphoma) was diagnosed. The first one was diagnosed in October 2001. My original diagnosis was in December 2000. January 2003 […]

Jersey Girl

Posted March 29th, 2010

Yesterday I heard “Jersey Girl” on the radio…. I got no time for the corner boys, Down in the street making all that noise, Or the girls out on the avenue, ‘Cause tonight I wanna be with you. Tonight I’m gonna take that ride, Across the river to the Jersey side, Take my baby to […]

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

Posted March 3rd, 2010

When I started treatment, my sister suggested I write a journal of my experiences. I didn’t, because I couldn’t imagine wanting to keep a record of such an awful experience. Having survived it, and perhaps forgetting some of the really awful stuff, I wish I did keep a journal. The people I met were the […]

Questions Worth Answering

Posted February 22nd, 2010

I recently attended a networking group for blood cancer survivors at Gilda’s Club Delaware Valley in Warminster. We were asked a couple interesting questions…. How did you get the news? I’ve been told three times I had cancer, the original diagnosis and two relapses (relapsi?) . I had been deathly ill for three months in […]