Adjusting Perspective.
Well, that certainly didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. Not at all. I didn’t realize it until after the fact, but, like my husband, I had been telling myself a certain story about how all of...
View ArticleWhy I feed my toddler an anti-cancer diet.
Can you imagine if you had never put anything unhealthy into your body? No fried foods, candy, caffeine, soft drinks, alcohol, drugs, red dye #40, processed foods, chemicals, hormones or any of that...
View ArticleI got tested and found out I have the cancer gene.
I recently made the decision to seek genetic counseling and testing to determine if, given my history of cancer, my daughter was also at risk for contracting the disease. Turns out, she very well may...
View ArticleI’m having my healthy breasts removed.
I recently found out that I have the BRCA1 genetic mutation. And even though I’ve recently gone through a hell of a year of intense treatment for widespread gynecologic cancer, I am now facing the fact...
View ArticleLetter to my daughter at 16 months.
I don’t know what it feels like to have a child and not have the dark cloud of cancer hanging over my head. I was diagnosed with Stage 3C widespread gynecologic cancer when my daughter was just five...
View ArticleWhat ‘National Cancer Survivor’s Day’ Means To Me As A Survivor And A Mom
A year ago I had never even heard of National Cancer Survivor’s Day, a celebration of life held around the world. This year, however, it’s an incredibly important day for me. What a difference a year...
View ArticleMe and Angelina: Why I Stand By My Decision to Have Preventative Cancer Surgery
What do I have in common with Angelina Jolie (besides oversized lips that are apparent even in our baby photos)? We’re both moms. We both discovered through DNA testing that we carry the BRCA1 genetic...
View ArticleListen To Your Mother
So this is happening. In an effort to step out of my comfort zone, at the suggestion of a friend, I auditioned to be part of the first ever Nashville cast of Listen To Your Mother, a collaborative...
View ArticleRight On Time
I wrote recently about having auditioned to participate in Nashville’s first production of Listen To Your Mother, a live staged reading of essays written by real people about motherhood. The event took...
View ArticleAvoiding Negative Self-Talk: Why the Phrase ‘F*ck Cancer’ Is No Longer in My...
You know that icky feeling you get in your stomach when you’re fighting with someone … when the conflict hangs over your head like a dark cloud, robbing you of feeling joy at any given point in your...
View ArticleH-T-W.
Some of you may of you be familiar with the game K-F-M (http://killfuckmarry.tumblr.com), where one is given three hypothetical options and has to pick who among them they’d, respectively, kill, f*ck,...
View ArticleAlive and kicking.
I haven’t posted any status updates since leaving the hospital a week ago, mostly because I’ve spent the week surrounded by my wonderful family, in my own home, and it has been extraordinary. But I...
View ArticleBuilding a Legacy (While Enjoying Every Sandwich)
In the fall of 2002, the great Warren Zevon made his final appearance on The David Letterman Show before dying of malignant mesothelioma, a rare and deadly form of lung cancer. When asked by Letterman...
View ArticleThe Elephant In The Room | The Danger of Trying to Control Perceptions
I was doing some holiday shopping with a close friend this past December, and ended up picking up an item I thought would look nice in our home … a sort of stuffed patchwork elephant comprised of...
View ArticleFour Fifty Three am. July 28th, 2015
One year ago today, at 4:53am, Joanna Lee Stanfield Montgomery drew her last breath. It feels like it happened yesterday and a million years ago, simultaneously. I miss her more than I can articulate…...
View Article