In response to Chicago Reader's Brianna Wellen's article on dating while getting chemo
I didn't read this year's Valentine's Day issue of Chicago Reader for obvious reasons [Note]well, there are obvious to people who can read this LJ's firend-locked entries. But I was too curious not to read it eventually, and once I did, there was one article in particular that struck a cord.
For (different) obvious reasons.
Like me, Chicago Reader writer Brianna Wellen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Like me, she went through months of chemo, and, like me, she is now cancer-free. She was diagnosed a few months after I was, and she went through chemo a bit more recently.
I didn't hear about that until she was well into her chemo. I was meaning to reach out to her, one Hodgekin's diagnosed Chicago journalist to another, but that happened right around the time my days of stringing for Pioneer Press were abruptly ended, and other priorities took over. But I still feel bad that I didn't even try.
But anyway... That's not what the post is about. The post is about her article, which takes a humorous-yet-serious look at dating while going through chemo. I wasn't really thinking about dating while on chemo - but I admit wondering whether it was worth bothering with.And I could certainly understand wanting to do something normal, something mundane, just to, well, feel normal, even if for a day. I get wondering how much I should reveal, because, if there's one thing I learned, it's that it's called "The Dreaded C-Word" for a reason.
And I get that feeling that, now that the chemo is over, things will never be quite the same again. Because it does become a huge part of your life, something that continues to haunt me in some odd, not always obvious ways.
In short - read the article. It's pretty good. Even if wouldn't feel as personal to most people reading this as it does to me.
And Brianna, if you are reading this.... If you ever want to talk to someone about the joys of chemo vomit, or covering events while wondering how much of your hair has fallen out, or about trying to schedule your deadlines around post-chemo fatigue... I'm pretty easy to reach.
For (different) obvious reasons.
Like me, Chicago Reader writer Brianna Wellen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Like me, she went through months of chemo, and, like me, she is now cancer-free. She was diagnosed a few months after I was, and she went through chemo a bit more recently.
I didn't hear about that until she was well into her chemo. I was meaning to reach out to her, one Hodgekin's diagnosed Chicago journalist to another, but that happened right around the time my days of stringing for Pioneer Press were abruptly ended, and other priorities took over. But I still feel bad that I didn't even try.
But anyway... That's not what the post is about. The post is about her article, which takes a humorous-yet-serious look at dating while going through chemo. I wasn't really thinking about dating while on chemo - but I admit wondering whether it was worth bothering with.And I could certainly understand wanting to do something normal, something mundane, just to, well, feel normal, even if for a day. I get wondering how much I should reveal, because, if there's one thing I learned, it's that it's called "The Dreaded C-Word" for a reason.
And I get that feeling that, now that the chemo is over, things will never be quite the same again. Because it does become a huge part of your life, something that continues to haunt me in some odd, not always obvious ways.
In short - read the article. It's pretty good. Even if wouldn't feel as personal to most people reading this as it does to me.
And Brianna, if you are reading this.... If you ever want to talk to someone about the joys of chemo vomit, or covering events while wondering how much of your hair has fallen out, or about trying to schedule your deadlines around post-chemo fatigue... I'm pretty easy to reach.