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Semi Moore
When I was younger, a few people would tell me I reminded them of Demi Moore. Naturally, I never argued with them. There are some compliments in life that one simply accepts with great humility. Fast forward a few decades… Cancer entered the chat. Chemotherapy did what chemotherapy does, and my hair decided to…
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Extraordinary in the Ordinary
My mother had a gift. She noticed things the rest of us walked straight past. A rainbow after a storm. A particularly beautiful sunset. A flower that had quietly bloomed overnight. She found joy in simple things and never seemed to be in a hurry to move on to the next one. She was…
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The Birthday We celebrated a Year early
My sister is four and a half years older than I am. This fact has been true for our entire lives. Which makes what happened next even more ridiculous. When she was approaching what I thought was her fiftieth birthday, I decided she deserved something special. So, I planned a one week trip to…
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Nobody Gives Us a Manual
One of the unexpected things about cancer isn’t the treatment. It’s the people. Not because people stop being kind. Because most suddenly become… wonderfully human. Some don’t know what to say, so they say nothing at all. Some send messages every week. Some pretend everything is completely normal, which can be surprisingly comforting. Some…
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Taking Stock
There are moments in life that divide everything into before and after. Hearing the words, “You have cancer,” is one of them. For some, there are tears. For others, anger. Some feel numb. Some immediately start asking questions. There is no right way to react. For me, there were tears. There was fear. Certainly, a…
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Our Boobs Are Not Watches
I’ve discovered that doctors have a language all their own. Perfectly sensible to them. Completely baffling to the rest of us. My oncologist, for example, has a black file for every patient. Inside is a hand-drawn sketch of a pair of boobs. Every. Single. Time. Now, I adore my doctor. I trust him completely.…
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The Man Who Bought a Bicycle
People often ask me where I get my resilience from.The truth is that I come from a line of pretty remarkable people. I have been fortunate with the men in my life—my father, my husband, my son, and a cousin who has always felt more like a brother. But if I had to choose men…
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Meet Javier
Every expensive wig, I’m told, deserves a proper mannequin head. Apparently, that’s how you keep it in good shape. Now, when you’ve never bought a wig before, you also haven’t spent much time shopping for mannequin heads. Neither had my husband. Being the wonderfully practical man that he is, he immediately went online and ordered…
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The Teacher My Son never Disposed Of
This story has nothing to do with cancer. Cancer cannot take centre stage every day. This story is for Teachers Day for every teacher who saw the child before they saw the syllabus. My son has a rather interesting history with teachers. He never collected them. He… disposed of them. When he was in…
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Make Room for Me
One of the things cancer has taught me is that people don’t always know what to say. Some disappear because they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing. Some become wonderfully practical. Some become unexpectedly brave. And some simply love you exactly as they always have. During my four rounds of A&C chemotherapy, the daughter of…
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