Search Results for "COVID-19"...

Choose Your Own Adventure

In 2011, I didn’t get to choose my path. Cancer chose for me. The diagnosis meant 14 months of being told to see doctors, have tests and surgeries, and undergo a course of immunotherapy. The doctors said it was all necessary to survive, and I did it all.

At the end of those 14 months, I felt lost.

Faith is a Feeling

It’s late at night, but I feel like writing. Throughout my day I’ve scrolled through The Cancer Patient Instagram stories. The topic has been primarily centered around religious people, and the stupid things they’ve said and the myriad of ways we’ve been hurt by them.

How Do I Break the News?

How Do I Break The News? Cancer, Companionship, and Right to Privacy. Navigating the dating scene is particularly difficult for everyone, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it gets even worse when one is a cancer survivor.

“Silenzio, Bruno!”

My mom died from pancreatic cancer three months into the COVID-19 pandemic, a short three and a half years after my dad died from AML. My husband, two daughters, and I slipped into isolation and grief through all the COVID headlines, trying to keep our heads above water through a funeral, cleaning out her house, and figuring out where the line was on being safe and keeping sane. 

Grief vs. Belief

Life-changing events have come and gone on several occasions in my 33 years; my dad’s dementia, Mum’s fractured pelvis, and my brother’s stage IV lymphoma. Some have come and not quite gone, too – my own brain tumor still hangs around like a (thankfully now small) reminder, and that’s what led me to Elephants and Tea!

My Body is a Battleground

When I was in the hospital for induction chemotherapy, I remember telling my dad that my body felt like a war zone. The chemotherapy that continuously ran through my veins for a week was the weapon meant to wipe out the disease that pervaded my body.

COVID Reopening: Part 2

I just reread the article I wrote last May about reopening. Who knew it would be another 12 months before Ohio actually reopened? But the sentiments haven’t changed.

Braving the Storm

As I sit here looking out the window at the snow that is beginning to fall, I am transported back to January 2011 when I was 28 and my 35 year old husband was diagnosed with leukemia. I was thrown into a snow storm I was definitely not prepared for nor did I think I’d be in.

The Steven G. Cancer Foundation

Thus, the Steven G. AYA Cancer Research Fund is making the change to the name the Steven G. Cancer Foundation. Keeping Steven’s name ties us to our legacy in Cleveland, all while adding the word “Foundation” to showcase the natural growth of our nonprofit organization.

Cancer and Sexuality

Cancer and sexuality are two megawatt topics all on their own. Still when looked at together, the topic is rarely given enough attention, anecdotally speaking. Apparently, I was one of the lucky ones, my oncologists spoke to me about fertility.