I just wanted to ask them a few questions to try to prove a point. I was totally unprepared for the responses I received, and especially the answers I didn’t receive. In my ignorance, I believed that people would be as eager to share their experience as I am. It didn’t occur to me right away that this would be a complex investigation that may be triggering and painful to people for a number of reasons…but it’s not my story to tell. I typed the words, but it’s their story and you need to hear it.
Tag Archives: cancer
Reconstructing the World Post-Covid19
Today is the first day I’ve been alone in eight weeks. I simply could not have anticipated how a global pandemic, Covid19 (formerly known as the Coronavirus) would impact me. I mean, going from feeling like the strongest opponent in the world after coming so close to the brink of death, to a near full recovery was an almost euphoric feeling that was quite short lived. In fact, I swore I wasn’t going to write about this. Eight weeks later, here I am, writing about it.
In Pursuit of Repressed Emotions: The Journey Back to My Authentic Self
I used to live life in a box. It was pretty from the outside. Well decorated. It might have looked like the kind of box others might like to live in. I went to lengthy measures to ensure it was well maintained. Inside of that box was all of my fears and on the edgesContinueContinue reading “In Pursuit of Repressed Emotions: The Journey Back to My Authentic Self”
You Want Me To Do WHAT During Treatment?
When you think of what cancer treatment might be like or even what you’ve witnessed in the past, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Sick people laying in a hospital bed? That’s what I thought of. It’s even an accurate depiction of what I had experienced up to the point I was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. I’m happy to say, gone are the days of spending all day in a hospital bed during cancer treatment – at least the expectation of. I wore my own clothes in the hospital, cleaned my own body, made my own bed and even used the hospital kitchenette to heat up and eat the home cooked food that others brought for me. All that said, there is nothing that could have prepared me for the day my oncologist told me how much I should be exercising during treatment.
Looking for the Best Wine to Pair with Calculating Medical Expenses?
When I was diagnosed with cancer, the absolute furthest thing from my mind was income taxes. Unfortunately, the reality is, sick or not, you owe the government a tax return. Read more to learn about the implications of being sick and paying taxes, and some tips on how to get through it unscathed.
A Call to Action: Injecting Humanity Into Healthcare
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, my oncologist finished with, ‘the prognosis for survival is 90%…as long as you make it through the next 10 days’. What I had just learned was inconceivable no matter how hard I tried to process it. The only thing I could do to prevent myself from going off the deep end was take things one step at a time. Even if that meant one minute to the next. Based on the, ‘as long as you make it though the next 10 days’ part, it was very clear what my first goal would be; live through the next 10 days.
Cannabis You Say? No Thanks, I Don’t Use Drugs
Imagine spending the vast majority of your adult life with an utter disdain for the one thing that may ease your chemotherapy side effects; Cannabis.
In this article, we explore my past relationship with cannabis, getting over biases and explore the medicinal use of CBD oil and all I’ve learned about it so far.
Included are also some links to information related to tax deductions, ‘Compassionate Pricing’, what’s happening with insurance providers and the Michael G. DeGroote Cannabis Research program at McMaster University.
How Complacency Almost Cost Me My Life
As I mentioned in my last article, Cancerversary Turmoil, it’s been a very emotional couple of weeks for me…I’m realizing for my family, people who are very close to me and even some who aren’t always so close too. Christmas now takes on a very different meaning for us all. On Christmas day last year,ContinueContinue reading “How Complacency Almost Cost Me My Life”
Cancerversary Turmoil
According to an article written by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information, nearly 30% of people diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia die either prior to treatment beginning, within the first 3 days of treatment, proceeding the first 3 days of treatment or in the moderate to high risk group. What it boils down to is, the time from onset to mortality is very short and the symptoms of leukemia can be chalked up to anything from overexertion in day to day life to the flu. Before you know it, it has advanced beyond the point of a body’s ability to handle the treatment or protect itself anymore. I am within the high risk group and can’t help but wonder if my (former) family doctor had taken my concern seriously the first time I called how that would have changed what I had to go through to get well again. Highlighting the urgent need for us, as patients, to advocate for ourselves.
Your Role as an Inpatient, Outpatient and Transitioning Between
Hey Everybody! Below I’ve included a whole bunch of great information on things to consider or keep in mind at various stages of hospital treatment. Each unit operates differently and knowing what to expect and how to help you, help them will make your hospital experience safer and smoother.
Read on for tips.
So You've Got Cancer 