Sometimes, cancer is so obvious.
I’m reminded of it all the time. I see the giant scar on Holly’s stomach and I’m reminded. Cancer is in the media all the time, from Katie Couric to Tony Snow to Elizabeth Edwards to Crazy Sexy Cancer. It’s easy to be reminded.
Outlook comes up with various doctors appointments. Friends ping me on IM to ask about Holly. My heart skips a beat whenever I see ‘HOME’ on my cell and I’m forced to think of what might be wrong. It is easy to be reminded of cancer.
When I get home and Holly is completely exhausted. When I see Xeloda on the counter or Metamusil in the cabinets or prune juice in the fridge. When we get medical bills in the mail. When we have to leave the party early. It is easy to be reminded of cancer.
When she wears a low cut top and I see the incision where her port is. Next week, when she shaves her head, it will be more obvious. When I see the yellow ‘LIVE STRONG’ bracelet or the Chinese healing beads given to her by a friend. When I see books and magazines and pamphlets on ‘Your New Life With Cancer’. It is easy to be reminded of cancer.
But sometimes…
Last Sunday, we spent the morning at the beach. The kids played in the sand. The dog ran around with a million other dogs. Holly and I walked and held hands. We went to Kelly’s, our favorite place in Santa Cruz, for brunch. It was perfect. And I forgot about cancer.
Today is the 3rd annual BlogDay. It also marks (more or less) the 8th month anniversary of Holly’s diagnosis of Stage 3 Colon Cancer. Not a great day in our lives, but we are well passed the half way point, which gives us some comfort.
Throughout This Silliness, we have found amazing inspiration through a collection of bloggers who are documenting their bouts with cancer. The rules of BlogDay are fairly simple, identify 5 blogs that I find interesting, link to them and add a link to BlogDay somewhere in the post. Easy, peasy.
I have about 20+ cancer related blogs that I subscribe to. In fact, this gives me motivation to do something with the side bar in terms of a feed. Let’s see if I actually accomplish that. While all of the blogs that I read are exceptional in their own way, here are 5 that I come back to more than regularly. In no particular order.
1.) Derek K. Miller - Penmachine - Derek’s photostream on Flickr was what originally inspired me to start this blog. He is a fantastic writer, focusing on his fight with colon cancer, technology and has awesome taste in music. I not only read his stuff to stay current on his struggle with cancer, but also to stay current on things that I deal with at work.
2.) Help Isabel - When a 5 year old has leukemia and her mother has the strength to write about it every single day, it is amazing stuff. Isabel is an inspiration to us all.
3.) Cancer is the Easy Part / Life With Heathens - Cancer is hard enough when you can pronounce what you have. Jo at CitEP / LWH blogs about her experience with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2a, Medullary Thyroid Cancer and other little bits that life throws at her and continues to have an amazing attitude through it all. She has also been a wonderful part of the H4H community.
4.) My Cancer, Leroy Sievers - No list of cancer blogs would be complete without him. He is the writer I aspire to be.
5.) YouTumor - Shortly after Holly was diagnosed, I received an email that stated “We have some stuff in common. My name is Scott, I
work in technology, and, unfortunately my wife also has cancer.” From that day on, I was hooked. Scott also likes the Simpsons and making awesome pop culture references. Fortunately, his wife is doing well and they are moving to London. Scott and Beth both have infectious positive attitudes that make their posts really fun to read.
I could go on all night. There are so many good blogs out there and it is great to see everyone being open about their experiences. Next year…
Hopefully next year, all will be well and I can focus on other sites.
Today, Hope For Holly was highlighted as a Hot Member within the MyBlogLog Community. It is a great honor to be added to the mix with past Hot Members including Andrew Wee, Tim Ferriss and Robert Kiyosaki amongst others.
MyBlogLog has been so helpful for Holly and me in finding and reaching out to people who are going through similar ordeals. I’ve met amazing people and have really been touched by all who have joined and developed different cancer awareness communities in order to share their feelings, thoughts, ideas and positive thinking. It truly is the power of a flat world.
I especially want to thank the illustrious Robyn Tippins for the exceptional write up on my sites.