In June I finished my 12th cycle of Temodar, the oral chemotherapy that I’ve taken every month as the main treatment for my oligodendroglioma. I’ve written about some of the side effects I had before— but each month I seemed to have new ones. From Nasuea and vomiting, rashes, to low blood counts— in addition …
Tag: Cancer
Gaining Perspective
This month, as I marked the end of my first year with cancer, I lost my job. I had a job I loved— I loved the people I worked with, I loved the work... and I was good at it. And really- being a pediatrician was more than a job— I had dedicated my life …
How to care about something (else) in the time of COVID-19
Clearly there have been several drastic changes we have all had to make in the past 2 months so that life now feels upside down in many ways. Quarantine, homeschooling, mask fashion— not to mention decreased or absent income, fear of illness and hospitalization, etc etc. We are all in this together, although our personal …
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Well… if it weren’t for that one thing…
Clearly, most of us have a lot more time on our hands now that we are physically distancing from our networks and staying home as much as possible. What has kind of blown my mind recently is that, yes— while quarantining isn’t super glamorous— often the opposite with bickering children, piles of dishes and laundry, …
New Challenges For Us All
One week ago I was planning to pack for Hawaii next week, looking forward to going to a concert, skiing, soccer game. I know in the past week everyone’s plans have changed. Freaking COVID is tearing through the entire population and here in Oregon we are dreading it landing here in full force— which is …
Public speaking tips for people who would rather not…
I’ve done a range of public speaking, all as part of my job. I’ve given lectures before, and taught classes to rooms full of adults that required me to stand next to a slide deck and talk. This is not my most favorite activity, but it’s something that I do about once every month or …
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Ripples of Hope Award and Speech
I wrote here about being chosen as the recipient of the 2020 Ripples of Hope Award. Man, what an honor! Did I mention that TOM BROKAW won last year? Yes.. yes I did mention that-- I still can't believe it! How does someone follow Tom Brokaw? Well, I'm not entirely sure, so I just ignored …
I’m getting an award!
People! I'm so excited to share with you that I've been chosen as the 2020 recipient of Consano's Ripples of Hope Award! This is the announcement that was sent out to the world: I'm SO honored to be chosen-- I've been figuring my way through battling with oligo for the last 9 months, and it …
2019: Year in Review
A year ago, as 2018 was ending, I made 2 lists in my planner. The lists were 2018 Reflections + Highlights, and 2019 Goals. 2018 was a great year. The kids were doing great, we bought a house, and completed a half marathon. We went on really fun trips, saw friends, I dyed my hair …
What NOT to say to someone who has cancer
There's a lot on the internet on this topic already, so if you are really worried about saying the wrong thing you can read more than just this blog post. Some good places to start are here and here. A lot of this comes down to common sense and emotional intelligence. The things that have …
between the busy 