Fingers on My Breast, Questions on My Mind
While my doctor’s fingers massaged my breasts and cradled my almond-sized lump, we had a peculiar conversation. She was from the Bay Area...
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7 Tips for Getting Through Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis
When my doctor told me I had an aggressive tumor that had already spread, it didn’t seem real. Here’re my top tips for getting through a...
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Chip It
I remember when Gary and I were broke. The night before Christmas, five minutes before closing, we headed into the Christmas tree lot to...
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Top Ten Things I Learned from Kathy
1. It’s okay to call God Gertrude and to come to the glorious, scandalous, liberating, unCatholic realization that God might be a woman....
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Cancer’s Other What If’s
Cancer brings a cycle of unwanted questions. Scary questions. Questions no one wants to ask. What if they can’t catch it? What if it...
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What Every Fourth Grader Knows
Ask any fourth grader. Unfairness is what pisses people off. It’s not infuriating when no one gets candy. It’s infuriating when one...
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Let's Not Be Frank
This week I heard a familiar voice on KQED Public Radio – one of my former tenants was being interviewed. I’ll call him Frank, but...
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Cancer By the Numbers
A quick story, told in numbers.
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Breast Cancer? Put It On Ice
A new technology called cryotherapy might help you avoid chemo.
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The Blonde in the Waiting Room
It is the nature of serious illness to leave questions unanswered. The blonde in the waiting room is one of them.
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