Sometimes the love comes from the sweetest of places. Phenom’s daughter, Shine, initiated the idea of doing a fundraiser for breast cancer in my honor.  She and her friend have spent the last six weeks making the cutest bracelets out of pop tabs and lanyard string.  (I have one and wear it a lot–I get lots of compliments.)  The bracelets are...

Tonight I tucked Maren in.  (Oh, how I miss tucking my girls in every night!)  She’s been having nightmares, anxiety, and fear at night, so I was reassuring her, praying with her, and encouraging her.  One of the strategies that we use for her to self-soothe is for her to lie in bed and count off ten happy things on her fingers.  To teach her this practice, I...

The other day, my friend Joy was walking behind her daughter and my Maren.  The girls were chattering away, as five-year-olds do.  Joy tuned in to hear this snippet of their conversation; it’s Maren describing to her friend what the plan is for the coming week(s): Maren, “My mom is going to the hospital to have surgery.”  Gesturing to her chest,...

When I wake up tomorrow morning (Wednesday), it will be my last chemo day.  Sixteen of sixteen. It’s bittersweet.  I’m sad to be leaving the cancer-killing treatment, the comfortable ease I have with my chemo routine, and the friends I have made in what has become “my” chemo room.  I’m happy to say good-bye to the toxins and their side...

I am very much in the rhythm of my new cancer normal, and a big part of my routine is chemo. Maren and Greta go to Phenom’s house.  I think they think it is summer camp.  They love it. I’ve had to take a running hiatus for the last two week: I have an infection in my toe that is exacerbated when I run.  Darn toe.  After two courses of antibiotics, I...