Stereotyping Cancer Survivors. I’m not brave, strong or blessed for beating cancer. It’s unfair to expect us to act like we’re brave blessed or strong for beating cancer.

Last post:                                     My Story:                                         Next One https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vufl4rfmPgo&list=UUAKTrVV6OAUq1O1odxC1Bfw < A talk I gave recently on this topic: Recently on Facebook, a few pages dedicated to cancer awareness asked patients to describe themselves and how they feel in one word.  Here’s an example.        I liked how positive people’s responses were. I like how these pages are getting groups of people in tough times together. I loved […]

I No Longer BELIEVE I’m a Patient. Why You Shouldn’t Label Yourself.

The other day, I was out to dinner and drinks with some friends. Amidst our casual banter about work, life and play we somehow got onto the topic of depression. It’s something that’s affected my friends, family and myself over my 3 years of being a patient. One of my friends said something that got to me. “Being told you’re depressed gives you an excuse to not try to get better. Maybe if people who say they’re depressed tried more, they wouldn’t be depressed.”   He didn’t mean to be judgmental or mean about it, in fact, he was sincerely concerned for […]

Dealing with Loss, and Survivor’s Guilt

Last post:                               My Story:                                      Next One:     This Is Tragic. Bree and her friend Bridgette were diagnosed with leukemia, on the same day, at the same hospital. They underwent painful, grueling treatment together. They spent the hardest times of their young lives with each-other… And now that Bridgette’s died, Bree can’t imagine living without her… It speak volumes on our ability to love… And how love’s power can even outweigh our ingrained instinct to endure. It’s […]

Vaccinations aren’t necessary??

Last post:                                      My Story:                                         Next One: Anti-vaccination groups have pushed a scare campaign on the public for years now, claiming that vaccines harm, not help kids. But the truth is, this whole scare campaign really caught fire, after a literally fraudulent, made up paper, was published years ago. This video explains it well. Check it out.  Anti-vaccination movements have been around for a while, but this whole […]

5 Reasons Why You Can’t Afford NOT To Give Blood, and Join the Bone Marrow Donor Registry.

And Join the Bone Marrow Donor Registry Through my journey to recovery, I’ve said thanks countless times; to my doctors, my nurses, my parents and my bone marrow donors. But the other day, I realised that I must have had at least a hundred bags of blood pushed into my veins at some point in my treatment. That’s on top of the two very vital bone marrow transplants I had.   It’s staggering the lengths our health system will go to in order to save a life.   I guess only after getting sick and really needing those bags of blood did I understand the importance […]

Bone Marrow Transplants. They Seem Scary…. But They’re Really Not. And They’ve Saved Me. Twice.

2 years ago, to this day, I received a bone marrow transplant. It was the hardest thing I’ve gone through, as a cancer patient. I spent weeks stuck in a bed, subsisting on unsolid food, barely drinking and in intense pain – even with morphine! And for months after it, I was fed into a spin-cycle of maladies, starting with my skin feeling like it was burning for days on end without relief, followed by months of sickness and huge shifts in weight and ending with the a relapse and the knowledge that I’d have to go through it all […]

Nurses. True Angels in our Wards.

Last post:                                      My Story:                                         Next One: You see it all the time on those medical shows on TV.  You see a doctor, who could probably earn millions modelling on the side, running through hallways and corridors, hanging IV drips, getting patients food, finding time to sit down and talk patients through all their fears and concerns – basically doing anything and everything to help the patients through […]

My Story.

Next Post: “The good news is you’re 17 and you have leukemia, but the bad news is… you’re 17 and you have leukemia.” I’d sorta known it was coming. It had been months since I’d felt right. I’d come home from school and sleep ’til eight. I was off my food. I’d been getting weaker and weaker, losing my strength and speed week by week despite training almost 2 hours a day. I’d put it down to exams and stress. But damn… it was far from that. Now what? All my – and my parents’ – last hopes had extinguished […]