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,...

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...

I was diagnosed six months ago today.  It is both a blink and an eternity. I’m still in the cancer journey.  As expected, the journey did not end with my surgery: there is still much to do.  Receiving my NED (no evidence of disease) is awesome.  All of the treatment I am undergoing currently aims to maintain that status, well, forever. I have eight...

Surgery. Well, it was two weeks ago.  I haven’t really blogged much about it.  The highlights are pretty much that Dr. Awesome aced her job and cut all of the cancer that was left after chemo. So now, I am NED and cancer-free! Everything else kind of pales in comparison, so it seems insignificant to blather about pain, side effects, drains, body image, and...

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...