Crossposted from FacebookMany people reading this know that I love apples. And some people reading this even know why. For everybody else ( Read more... )

First of all, let me just say that I'm so, so sorry. Even though, as my friend tweelore put it when the possibility of the diagnosis first came up, it is the best cancer you can get, because the odds of you actually dying from it are pretty low and odds of going in remission are pretty high... It's still a scary thing to hear. And I won't sugarcoat it for ( Read more... )

When I read that the Cook County Health and Hospitals System - which includes the hospital where I was treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma - was laying off 320 people I was, to put it mildly, not amused. And I was even less amused when I got to this part (emphasis mine).

A Stroger Hospital employee who asked to remain anonymous said nurses, translators ( Read more... )

While getting treated for Hodgekins Lymphoma, I got to see the Blue Line Illinois Medical District 'L' station a lot. Between chemo, check-ups and giving blood samples, I was there 2-4 times every two weeks ( Read more... )

Back in September 8, 2014, two days after my fifth chemo, my mom and I attended the National Cancer Survivor Day celebration at Cook County Hospital. The event is supposed to be a celebration for those who made it through the chemo and other procedures, and a way to give hope to people who are still going through it ( Read more... )

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.

( Yes - we're talking the Dreaded C-Word )

So I was recently at Cook County Hospital for one of my regular cancer check-ups, when I overheard two staff members manning the front desk having a conversation that went something like this.

Receptionist 1: ...says here you need to know Spanish and Arabic.
Receptionist 2: I took Spanish in high school. Would that count?
Receptionist 1: Probably ( Read more... )

This post is something I've been mulling over for months. In the past, other commitments and deadlines got in the way, but since I am pretty light on both at the moment, I figured I might as well try to actually write it. When I started getting treatment for Hodgekins Lymphoma, many people told me something along the lines of "Oh my God, you're ( Read more... )

As you may remember from my "chemo diaries" posts, I did lose some hair. Not a small amount - at least it didn't seem that way.  I'd wake up with hair over the pillow. I found plenty of hair every time I swept the floors. And don't even get me started about all the hair in the shower.

But, as tweelore once memorably told CC, "[Strannik] has beautiful hair ( Read more... )

I've already posted about it on Twitter and Facebook. I wanted to post a bit more about it on Livejournal, but yesterday, I felt so tired (because I was basically running on two hours of sleep) that I decided to postpone it until I was a bit more awake ( Read more... )