I feel a bit like the boy in the story crying "Wolf." I have been crying "cancer" for much longer than I expected (and I suspect longer than most of you expected.) When I got the prognosis that said "Five percent make it to five years" I didn't think I would make it. Those odds didn't look good to me and I prepared myself. I got my affairs in order; I prepared a client transition plan; and I bade farewell to doing first aid. All this in the face of my brother telling me to go buy a cruise ticket for five years out. I didn't do it.

Remind me not to leave it three months before I write a newsletter. Get a cup of coffee and settle in. There is a lot of water under the bridge and a lot to read.

Before you get started if you want to make a donation to my Run for the Cure campaign the link is: https://support.cancer.ca/site/TR/RunfortheCure/RFTC_NW_odd_?px=12977008&pg=personal&fr_id=28512

I attended the Canadian Lung Cancer Conference on behalf of Lung Cancer Canada in July of 2022. I came away with a sense of the cutting edge of research and debate in the lung cancer community.

Double your donation

From October 13th to 15th CIBC will match all donations made. So sorry for the short notice BUT

I'm running again. And yes I'm doing the pink thing again. Only this time it will be my first in person run in three years! So not only am I running but I will be doing it with a lot of others. I do have a goal. In the spring I ran a 30 minute 5K (I think) and my goal is to do that again under more controlled circumstances.

Noctambulant stalker
Peddler of false comfort and fake hope
Denying the terror and death of cancer.

The toast of boardrooms around the globe
Prowess with profit and unpronounceable drugs
that twist the tongue,
tire and wrack the body.
Leave financial ruin,
fatigue, and side effucks in their wake.

Sometime in March I made a random joke about an event being moved from February to June. The punchline was that I committed to a road trip to Calgary. Unmasking the Reality of Cancer Mardi Gras themed Gala had seemed fun at the time. At heart though I was so ready for a road trip. Price of gas soared but I decided I could make the budget work.  

A personal report on the Health eMatters Conference.

At the end of March I attended the Health eMatters conference in Toronto. Sponsored by Myeloma Canada, it brought social media influencers together face to face.

Two themes emerged from the conference as I thought about the experience. Stories and connections. As I reflect on each of the presenters and their stories, let me see if I can weave these two threads together.

Who drags a two foot plywood ribbon from The White Ribbon Project with them when they travel? Or maybe it was the other way round. Why does a large ribbon that will not fit in a purse take a person with it when it decides to go traveling? In the tradition of Australian Aboriginal people, going walkabout is a spiritual experience often associated with awakening.  My ribbon from The White Ribbon Project decided to go modern walkabout for the first time in two years.

Ever been stuck in a hallway? As a student late for class, kicked out of a class? Maybe waiting for an appointment, or on a gurney in a hospital hallway? Hallways are long echoing place filled with doors and behind each one you can hear the buzz of voices, of life. Doors represent choices.

I'm still trying to figure out which of those doors to open. But I want to recount another medical story and then present the challenge that I face.

I have mentioned my issues around blood pressure. They have come up off and on throughout this journey with cancer,

The social media cancer world has its own unique language. Muggles describes people who don't have cancer. "Carcinomies" is a gentle blending of carcinoma and gnomes (or maybe homies) words for loyal friends. It is a word that we often use to describe ourselves. Language as it turns out is becoming more and more important to me.