Surviving Guilt
Reading Time: 6 minutes In December 2018, I decided to do a self breast exam while sitting in the bath. I hadn’t looked into how to do one properly, but I figured if I
Tag: Patient
Road to a Destination Unknown
Reading Time: 3 minutes I am finally back in treatment, and this time, it’s something entirely new… so new that the FDA hasn’t even approved it. Three weeks ago, I started an oral chemo
Stupid Cancer Story from Mariah
Reading Time: 4 minutes Just over a year ago I had my first brain surgery. A debilitating, seven-day migraine led me to a CT scan in the emergency room, where it was discovered that
Grieving After Your Cancer Diagnosis
Reading Time: 2 minutes Well, it’s September 1st, which means it’s now Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month. It is also my 8th month of having cancer. There are a lot of thoughts that come into
The Confusing Promised Land of Leukemia Maintenance
Reading Time: 3 minutes I remember it like it was yesterday. I was lying in my childhood bed watching Chopped on Food Network—any competition show with a simple story arc was all that could
Hodgkin Lymphoma and Pandemic Conditions
Reading Time: 2 minutes On New Year’s Eve 2021, after camping and hiking for several days with my partner, I was admitted to the hospital. After running different tests such as a chest x-ray
ACC Messed with the Wrong Person
Reading Time: 2 minutes I was a student teaching as a second-semester senior at Mercyhurst University when everything changed. I had a meeting and dinner with a handful of friends, everyone was socially distanced
When Cancer Knocks on your Door
Reading Time: 3 minutes The good ole college days! For me, they were 15-16 years ago. Just like the average college student, I was living a carefree life, hanging out with friends, trying to
Where Are the Superpowers?
Reading Time: 4 minutes It all started in January of 2020 when I decided I had to go into Urgent Care to get my groin pain checked out. I must’ve torn a muscle or
It’s all over now… Or is it?
Reading Time: 2 minutes I was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic melanoma in Feb of 2020, at 24 weeks pregnant, and recently turned 38. Well, let me back up a bit… I was on