Cancer Bloggers: Catching Up

I haven't had time to stay current with all my cancer blogger friends while on last week's cross-country trip.

So that's my first priority, now that I'm home and have written most (but not all) of what I wanted to say about my train trip from Seattle to New York with my younger son.

First, an observation: I've noticed this before, but when I'm traveling, I seem to leave my cancer behind in Seattle. I don't think about it much, and I certainly don't worry about it. But I'm taking my Tykerb and other drugs every day, so it's not like I can really forget about cancer. But I do, somehow. And that's good. I need a break from cancer every now and then.

Back to the blogger friends:

Sara
Only Sara could have a brain tumor, which she did, and make it funny. That's all I'm going to say, except read about it in Sara's own words:

What They Knew, When They Knew It, and Why We Weren't Told Sooner

Also read about her True Love and what trust REALLY means when you have a brain tumor:

Artifacts of Trust

Sara's True Love, who sent me--and about 40 more of Sara's admirers--the e-mails you can read in the above post, deserves our highest honor. What should it be called, and what should it look like? Something like a badge of courage (because this wasn't easy for him, obviously) ... but also it needs to show his love for Sara ... and the way he "gets" her--this is so rare, especially in stressful, difficult times like when we are living with cancer.

I won't even tell you (much) about all the e-mails I get from people whose partners can't take it, and either bail or are just not supportive. And I don't have a partner--The primary reason for that, I think, is that I am living with a cancer that cannot be cured. I can live with that (mostly) but I haven't found a man who can. And I don't look very hard, because I'm busy dealing with my cancer, and my life.

But this post is not about me, it's about Sara, and her marvelous talent for living and loving.

Amorette
I was a little worried about Amorette, because she's pregnant and I hadn't heard from her for awhile, but it turns out she's been busy, getting into interesting situations involving Wal-Mart and emergency room elevators.

Also, read her marvelous rant about race and disability:

Wait, what?

I still haven't gotten my disability hang-tag for my car (which has been in the shop for the PAST THREE WEEKS, but who's counting?) because I can't quite face it--even though I've been legally disabled and collecting Social Security Disability for the past two years.

I could have applied for disability much sooner, but I was afraid I would go bankrupt and lose my house, so I kept on working--yes, those were fun days. I worked from bed, on a laptop, much of the time.

And a short update on her pregnancy. Yes, Amorette is pregnant, with twins. This is a woman who never does anything by halves. And she wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant, either.

Heart problem explained...something I hadn't thought about

Teri
Teri, AKA The Cheeky Librarian, has created a blog which probably has more info about her rare form of cancer than any other blog or Web site in the world.

She's also survived a brain tumor, thank you very much, and has written about that.

Her latest post is about getting screened for adenoid cystic carcinoma, which is the kind of cancer she has. Or had. Teri, correct my verb tense, please.

MayoClinic's entry for Salivary Gland Cancer

And here's her entry about the pain clinic:

A visit to the pain clinic

Many of us live with chronic pain, and it's a bitch. Here's one of my posts about pain:

Questions I Hate: Pain

I am, at the moment, and knock wood, pain free. Next time I have a pain problem, I'm going to try needles--that's acupuncture. I think it would be better than the pain meds which messed up my tummy and my head.

Debutaunt
Just got off of Debs' blog. I feel really out of touch with her for some reason--her beautiful daughter has gone and turned 8 (!!!) while I wasn't looking. And it's soccer season for Zoe again already.

See:

Soccer is my LIFE!!!!!

Brave Sister

More to come.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Comments

[Heather Goethe]

Welcome back from your trip. Just wanted to let you know about Cancer.Net. It's the patient information website of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The site was formerly known as People Living With Cancer or (www.plwc.org). Today marks its rebirth as Cancer.Net. All content is vetted by a team of independent, volunteer oncologists. Thanks for letting us share our news.

[Amorette]

Welcome home. :)