Get Ann on the Walking Dead

#getannonthewalkingdead


I love the zombie apocolypse TV show The Walking Dead.  I could get into how richly drawn this world is, how the characters struggle with good/evil in a changed world, how Carol and Darryl are super bad asses and then suddenly show their sensitive side.  But I'm not writing a television blog, I'm writing a blog about living with metastatic cancer.So I can't relate to

CURE Online

I will be doing a little writing for Cure Magazine's online version.  I'd promised to do this long ago but got sick.  Now I'm back at it, and not feeling that well again.  I remind myself, correlation does not equal causation meaning, just because I agreed to do it before and got sick, doesn't mean it will happen again. I just need to get out of the house a bit more, I think.  I was supposed to

Rejection

I belong to a neighborhood forum, or I did.  You may belong to one too.  People share safety concerns, stranger sightings, carnivals, and items for sale in the neighborhood.  Sometimes a neighbor asks for personal help.

I rarely log in, but for some reason the other day I did, and I saw that a woman who lives nearby had been diagnosed with an early stage cancer and wanted to hear from neighbors

New Video - What do People Think it's Like to Have Cancer?

Hope you got some of the video jokes.  :)  Subscribe to my youtube channel!  And no, I haven't forgotten this is still a written blog, I have an important post I'm working on.

Chemo Infusion Room Etiquette - Mets Monday Video

Enjoy the latest video.  I'm having fun making these.  I have several ideas for future ones (and yes, son, I will try to speed them up a little).  Feel free to post suggestions for any you'd like to see below. (Don't worry, I'll still be writing as well.)Please subscribe to me on YouTube. You will get notice when my videos are up, and when I get to 500 subscribers I can pick my own name instead

Video: You could get hit by a BUS!

I am having fun and keeping myself busy (very important for somebody with metastatic breast cancer) by learning to make videos.  I am trying to keep to a schedule and upload one every Monday, aka Mets Monday.  If I don't give myself a deadline, I don't do things.

They are silly and unprofessional, but I am just learning.  It's slightly irritating that I'm struggling to figure out how to make

Mets Monday - How NOT to visit a sick friend

This month, I have been fortunate enough to have had visits from my oldest dearest friend, as well as my sister. Many of you canceristas and metsters are lucky enough to have loved ones who visit.

But tell me, do they always behave the way the way you wish they would? Of course their intentions might be good, but their thoughtlessness sometimes shows.

Insensitive behavior happens most often

Chain of Kindness

It’s February in Sacramento.  California snow has been falling – blossoms from neighborhood fruit trees dusting the ground with white, or pink, depending on the fruit. This is the reason so many of us put up with California’s high prices, unresponsive government, and unrelenting taxes – this glorious, glorious weather.  While much of the country is still buried in snow, shivering, our

How the Cancer Moonshot will help Metastatic Breast Cancer

There has been conversation on twitter from women with metastatic breast cancer, upset because they believe the Federal Government's "cancer moonshot" ignores women with our disease.  This puzzled me.  When I read the bullet points of what the Feds hope to do I don't see how metastatic cancer patients cannot benefit.  This Moonshot is, of course, meant to be inclusive of all cancers, but in my

The Sweetest Words

Top of the roller coaster - again


The sweetest words in the English language include,  "I love you" and "You won the powerball, here is a check for 1.3 billion."

And, of course,  "Pathological Complete Response."

I have been lucky enough to hear two out of three of those phrases.

After being in remission for a year, my PET scan of October showed "moderately extensive metastatic disease."  

Overdue Book Reports

I see I did review a couple of these.....


It's like high school all over again.  I am assigned People ask me to review their book and write a report review.  I love to read, and pretty much always agree that this is a good idea.  What is better than supporting an author?

In high school I geekily ended up reading the assigned book the first night. I was such a good student, I'm not quite sure

The Future of Metastatic Cancer Research

"When it comes to cancer, time matters."  C. Anthony Blau


It's my belief that we are at the very start of cancer research. If you think about how much more we know than we did 50 years ago, sure, we have made great strides;  some cancers that were formerly incurable now have treatments that allow people to live a normal lifespan. CML is one great example. But those breakthroughs are few and

Tradition

"Mom, are you going to make deviled eggs for the party? I haven't had those in a while."

I hadn't planned that particular menu item,  but when your son is home from college and makes a request...well, it becomes reality - at least if this mother has anything to do with it.  Damn kid tricked me into loving him and wanting to do things for him.  He's 18, a sophomore in college, and 6 foot tall.