By: Annette McElhiney
On July 29, 2017, I celebrated 9 years since my IIIC ovarian cancer debulking surgery. Because I’ve been so fortunate to be in remission, I spend hours each day researching, writing, and corresponding with other ovarian cancer … Read more
By: Susan Gubar
Many people associate palliative care with hospice care, but medical professionals are offering it to children and adolescents living with cancer as well as to those dying from it.
In the process, they are redefining both palliative … Read more
By: Susan Gubar
The Broadway star Marin Mazzie brings the same exuberance to living with late-stage ovarian cancer that she displays in her performances. Or perhaps the roles she has undertaken in musicals like “Ragtime,” “Kiss Me Kate” and “The … Read more
By: Annette McElhiney
In 1953, when I was 12, I received a paint by number set, a craft item wildly popular at the time. I began painting immediately and loved seeing a recognizable painting emerge as a result of following … Read more
The life of an athletic 14-year-old girl: school, track practice, gymnastics meets. Cancer wasn’t on Kylee Yarnell’s radar until her ovary ruptured while she was practicing on the bars one evening.
“It’s not usual for her to hurt,” said her … Read more
By: Susan Gubar
Because ovarian cancer initiated a stealthy assault before I discovered it, it seems the clear aggressor, and I the injured party. Yet as my physicians use their weapons to counterattack, collateral damages mount. Fatigue envelops me.
Sometimes … Read more
By: Annette McElhiney
Before I had cancer, I was strong, confident, and secure. While it was not always that way, it took years of education, exposure in the classroom and at professional conferences for me to feel good about myself. … Read more
By: Susan Gubar
Six days after an unremarkable lumpectomy, I had rushed to the local hospital, not so much because of pain but out of concern. I had been eating and drinking as usual, but what was going in was … Read more
By: Annette McElhiney
One
Facing cancer makes you think about things you’ve never have before. It makes you feel things you wish you’d never have to. It forces you to change. Suddenly you find yourself a member of an unfamiliar … Read more
In her recent book, Reading & Writing Cancer: How Words Heal, Susan Gubar explores the various ways reading and writing about cancer can be a valuable, often therapeutic, tool for patients with cancer. Whether it’s writing a memoir, engaging … Read more
When a cancer diagnosis is given, many challenges arise for patients and their families or caregivers. One of the many challenges is role reversal. Men who have a partner who is diagnosed with cancer may have a change in their … Read more
By: Annette McElhiney
When I was growing up in the 1950s, none of my immediate family, but many neighbors, distant relatives and acquaintances had cancer. Somehow, a cancer diagnosis always elicited silence, sadness, grief, and dread. Then, some people even … Read more
By: Annette McElhiney
As a retired college professor, I firmly believe that knowledge is power and may also result in a longer healthier life. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, “How to Get Patients to Take More Control … Read more
I have been trying to write this for a while, but the morphine and lack of juicy cheeseburgers (what has it been now, five weeks without real food?) have drained my energy and interfered with whatever prose prowess remains. Additionally, … Read more
By: Susan Gubar
“No thanks, I already have cancer,” I said to the radiologist. Since the magnified images of calcifications in my right breast looked neither obviously benign nor obviously malignant, he had just recommended a biopsy. Even after I … Read more
Jennifer Callaway thought her dream of becoming a mother was gone when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 27. She had her right ovary removed and went through six rounds of chemotherapy.
“In my heart of hearts, I was … Read more
By: Susan Gubar
Inside our new condo, the internet connection had failed. Two young men, sent by the cable company, had spent hours burying a cable to replace an antiquated line running into the building. As soon as they drove … Read more
By: Helen Palmquist
In May 1987 when I was 41, I suddenly noticed my abdomen was getting large. I phoned my brother, an obstetrician and gynecologist, long distance to tell him I looked four or five months pregnant. He told … Read more
By: Annette McElhiney
Only a night from old to new!
Only a night, and so much wrought!
The Old Year’s heart all weary grew,
But said: The New Year rest has brought.”
The Old Year’s hopes its heart laid down,… Read more
Three weeks before her wedding day, Cheyann Shaw uploaded a video to YouTube, a space the fitness fanatic regularly filled with workout clips and health tips. But this time was different: She was now using the social video platform for … Read more
