7:00  Wake up.  Shower.  Remember the shower in our bathroom has been turned off because of an annoying leak and just get dressed and ready for the day.  Gingerly apply castor oil to radiation site without dislodging the tape and Sharpie marks that are super important to the radiation techs. 7:30  Marvel that girls are still sleeping.  Put away laundry, make lists,...

In these last moments of precious nap time, I am crossing off my to-do list.  One item on the list is “Get Greta’s bunny face on film.” Greta, like many seventeen-month-olds, does animal sounds.  She has an impressive array and it is one of our best distraction techniques when we need her to cooperate.  She’ll chirp along and tell us the...

I had a scary experience this week. I went to my Oncology appointment on Monday, and mentioned a lump I found under my armpit while trying to stretch my scar tissue.  For four days, I’d been checking it, telling my anxiety that it is more likely to be nothing than something; I refused to let my anxiety rule my thoughts.  My left armpit is where the three...

I drive from my house to the hospital, making allowances for traffic on the highway, construction traffic, university traffic, and hospital construction traffic.  I park in the parking garage, and take two different elevators, one up, walk three hallways over, then a different one down.  I arrive in the Radiology suite, and I swipe my ID bar code under the scanner...

I’ve slept in my own bed for five nights now.  Staying in my childhood home was a necessary respite.  Greta is not one of those children who sits quietly on your knee and coos.  She climbs and burrows and pounds and pummels — all with love.  I tried to teach her “gentle”, which resulted in modified slaps to my shoulder.  Who am I to squelch...