Category Archives: fellow fighters

chris ward blumer, fallen angel

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Emily

I want to talk about my friend Chris, who died earlier this week. She and I connected early on in my days on Planet Cancer; she was newly diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic colon cancer when I was undergoing treatment … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, fellow fighters, Life After Cancer | Tagged Chicago, Chris Ward Blumer, Cubs, Facebook, fallen angel, Fred the Hot Tranny Mess, Humor, Northwestern, Planet Cancer, stage IV metastatic colon cancer, theater, tumor assassin, Twitter, wine, WineDiva, Wrigleyville | 7 Comments

looks can be deceiving

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Emily

There’s a funny sort of game that we play with our fellow survivors – those kickers of cancer ass with whom we share such powerful affinity. It’s an endless back-and-forth of affirmation, of reminding one another of the strength and … Continue reading →

Posted in fellow fighters, Life After Cancer | Tagged affinity, anger, baggage, Cooper River, defiance, ecstasy, eye of the beholder, fear, grace, guilt, horror movie, insecurity, irony, life-affirming, sadness, surveillance, terror | 6 Comments

inarticulate speech of the heart

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Emily

I woke this morning with a singular focus: take a nice long run, hopefully my longest yet, to start the day. For the past two weeks, I have been fighting a losing battle with the cold and dark, and have … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, fellow fighters, Life After Cancer, running | Tagged bonds, connection, Death, Facebook, friendship, heartbroken, inarticulate, Planet Cancer, reunion, social networks, sputtering, whiskey | 5 Comments

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

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

these things help

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Emily

I am generally averse to lists. But on a Friday afternoon, shorthand is useful. And since I spent last evening processing my pre-scope anxiety in a rather more flowerly fashion than I’d originally intended, let me try to break it … Continue reading →

Posted in fellow fighters, First Descents, Life After Cancer, medicine | Tagged anxiety, Citizens Bank Park, fabulous husband, Fridge, giving cancer the bird, no-hitter, referrals, Roy Halladay, Shotgun, sunshine | 2 Comments

comfort in the fight

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Emily

There’s danger in complacency/And comfort in the fight. – Jonatha Brooke Every so often, no matter how “great” you are feeling, there are moments in a survivor’s life when the sheer shit storm of cancer and its after-effects come along … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, fellow fighters, Life After Cancer | Tagged 9/11, comfort, compassion, devotion, fight, First Descents, friends, Hottie Bucks, Jonatha Brooke, old wounds, over-looked truths, posse, priceless, sister, Sourland Mountain Preserve, vigil | Leave a comment

equilibrium restored, or brief notes on being a survivor

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Emily

This just in: sometimes, life after cancer completely sucks. I try not to spend a whole lot of time here feeling sorry for myself, or bitching about how hard my life has been since my diagnosis. The truth is, most … Continue reading →

Posted in fellow fighters, Life After Cancer, running | Tagged blackness, children, connection, crying, Facebook, fellow warriors, genetic mutation, GI scopes, husbands, illusory, iPods, isolation, running, shit storm, suffering, support, survivorship | 3 Comments

my left foot (or, what’s compulsive after cancer?)

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Emily

Today started with barking, dog wrestling and a power outage. We just spent ten days taking care of our friends’ Pomapoo, who loved to begin each day with a vigorous yet playful attack on our own aging basset hound. High-pitched … Continue reading →

Posted in adoption, cycling, Death, fellow fighters, Life After Cancer, running | Tagged adoption, basset hound, buzzing, coffee with chicory, compulsive, cycling, genetic mutation, life expectancy, MS 150 CIty to Shore, mums, neuropathy, Pomapoo, power outage, prognosis, PSE&G, running, Sarah Sadtler Feather, weed whacking | 4 Comments

heroes: roll-call

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Emily

In my own stillness today, it seems right to offer a round-up of a few of the fiercest fighters around me. I often think about this ad-hoc community of young adult survivors that I am so blessed to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in fellow fighters, First Descents, Life After Cancer, Photography | Tagged ALL, blogs, Caring Bridge, determination, Facebook, Fridge, Giggles, grace, heroes, Holly, Imerman Angels, Jennie, marathon, Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, positivity, triathlon | Leave a comment