Category Archives: First Descents

CANCERCON 2017: WHY WE COME BACK

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Emily

My state of mind coming to Denver to speak as part of a young adult cancer conference was primarily one of perplexed amusement. When did I become a “leading expert” on adopting after cancer? I am simply one person with … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, fellow fighters, First Descents, Infertility, Life After Cancer | Leave a comment

PERFECTION, or WHAT IS HARD

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Emily

Last weekend, at the First Descents Climb-a-Thon, our belayer was, quite unexpectedly, a 14-year-old boy. When the day began, I formed a climbing group with another cancer survivor, her brother and his girlfriend. I liked them immediately. There was a … Continue reading →

Posted in fellow fighters, First Descents, yoga | Tagged climbing, First Descents, perfection, pincha mayurasana, struggle, yoga | Leave a comment

mid-life young adult cancer crisis

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Emily

Has my license to write about cancer expired? I’ve been thinking about the countless numbers of young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer since I entered this universe over five years ago. I’ve mused on the lives lost, the … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, First Descents, Life After Cancer, Philadelphia, Writing | Tagged climbing, First Descents, mid-life crisis, parenting, time | 2 Comments

moments of surrender

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Emily

As it turns out, there is much more to fear in life than the onset of a life-threatening illness. Fear of weakness, of facing limitations, of inadequacy, of conflict, of vulnerability – over the last five years, these manifestations of … Continue reading →

Posted in First Descents, Life After Cancer, yoga | Tagged fear, First Descents, five years, rappelling, shavasana, vinyasa, wheel pose | 2 Comments

this is why we write

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Emily

Recently, a lovely young woman who just completed treatment for her advanced ovarian cancer told me that reading my blog was “the first time she felt hope.” She offered these words so honestly, with such straight-forwardness; I was quite taken … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, fellow fighters, First Descents, Life After Cancer, Writing | Tagged 2008, donuts, dreams, Earl, First Descents, hope, June 11, Limbo, suspended animation, Wyoming | 2 Comments

third time’s the charm: first descents, montana, july 2011

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Emily

They say the third time’s the charm. But how can I possibly measure my most recent trip to the divine land of First Descents love and laughter against my previous sojourns? It’s simply not appropriate. So maybe all I can … Continue reading →

Posted in fellow fighters, First Descents, Life After Cancer | Tagged fear, First Descents, Flathead River, Glacier, Iceman, kayaking, Lake McDonald, Montana, Patch, Spam | 1 Comment

opening; anniversaries

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Emily

It’s fast becoming clear that Sunday evening’s Yin yoga class is in large part about clearing the mind. So, on the drive home, it begins to fill up. After an hour and a half of stretching and expanding and opening … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, fellow fighters, First Descents, Life After Cancer, New Orleans, yoga | Tagged Anders Osborne, clarity, Coop's, First Descents, gardens, Jazzfest, Moab, New Orleans, opening, serenity, Wall Street, Yin yoga | Leave a comment

three years on: haunted, miraculous

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Emily

When I last wrote, I’d just gotten a hard slap from cancer at the precise moment it seemed I was at long last beginning to put some distance between my life as defined by cancer and the life that I … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, Family, fellow fighters, First Descents, Life After Cancer | Tagged adoption, cancerversary, check-up, First Descents, glass of wine, holidays, life expectancy, Market-Frankford El, Neil Finn, Perelman Center, rappel, shapeless sadness, Superior Court brief, surgery, therapy, Utah, Valentine's Day | 2 Comments

speaking out; running hard

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Emily

By all rights, I should be curled up on the couch with Peter Carey’s Parrot and Olivier in America, sipping my Riverhorse Belgian Freeze, breathing deeply and calmly, engaged in some kind of conscious regrouping after a long and eventful … Continue reading →

Posted in First Descents, Life After Cancer, Philadelphia, running | Tagged 10K, Beemer, Camden, Campbell's Field, Cathy Bueti, devil's butt crack, Double-Oh-Seven, Dr. Mary Daly, finish line, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Kerri Conner, Lemondrop, Mike, Moab, New York CIty Marathon, Peter Carey, Riverhorse Belgian Freeze, Run the Bridge | Leave a comment

no line on the horizon

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Emily

Following my hysterectomy in the early days of winter, 2008, my oncologist presented us with two treatment “options.” In my haze and numbness, I was largely unable to absorb information; Mike became my eyes and ears, as well as my … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, Death, fellow fighters, First Descents, Life After Cancer | Tagged acceptance, adoption, CA125, denial, destination, five-year survival rate, Grim Reaper, horizon, hysterectomy, Lemondrop, magical thinking, Mike, ovarian cancer, PATCO, realism, Sarah Sadtler Feather, scans, scopes, statistics | 8 Comments