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Our Boobs Are Not Watches
I’ve discovered that doctors have a language all their own. Perfectly sensible to them. Completely baffling to the rest of us. My oncologist, for example, has a black file for every patient. Inside is a hand-drawn sketch of a pair of boobs. Every. Single. Time. Now, I adore my doctor. I trust him completely.…
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The Man Who Bought a Bicycle
People often ask me where I get my resilience from.The truth is that I come from a line of pretty remarkable people. I have been fortunate with the men in my life—my father, my husband, my son, and a cousin who has always felt more like a brother. But if I had to choose men…
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Meet Javier
Every expensive wig, I’m told, deserves a proper mannequin head. Apparently, that’s how you keep it in good shape. Now, when you’ve never bought a wig before, you also haven’t spent much time shopping for mannequin heads. Neither had my husband. Being the wonderfully practical man that he is, he immediately went online and ordered…
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The Teacher My Son never Disposed Of
This story has nothing to do with cancer. Cancer cannot take centre stage every day. This story is for Teachers Day for every teacher who saw the child before they saw the syllabus. My son has a rather interesting history with teachers. He never collected them. He… disposed of them. When he was in…
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Make Room for Me
One of the things cancer has taught me is that people don’t always know what to say. Some disappear because they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing. Some become wonderfully practical. Some become unexpectedly brave. And some simply love you exactly as they always have. During my four rounds of A&C chemotherapy, the daughter of…
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I Swallowed a Golf Ball
I’ve never understood golf. I understand most sports. In tennis, two people hit a ball to each other. In cricket, someone bowls and someone bats. In football, twenty-two people chase the same ball around a field. I understand the objective. Golf, however, has always baffled me. As far as I can tell, everyone arrives carrying…
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None of us knows
Years ago, a close friend’s mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer. A few years later, it came back. I remember talking to my own mum about it. We both felt sad for her. We assumed she didn’t have much time left. My mum, on the other hand, was full of life. She laughed easily, loved…
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One last Ordinary Christmas
One of the things I remember most clearly about my first diagnosis isn’t the phone call.Or the biopsy.Or even hearing the word “malignant.”It’s Christmas. We had sent the biopsy sample away, and like most people waiting for results, we were trying not to imagine the worst.My husband quietly gave the laboratory his phone number and…
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The Waiting Room
When people think of an oncology waiting room, they probably imagine silence.Heads bent. Anxious faces.Everyone counting the minutes until their name is called.Mine isn’t quite like that.It begins with a black file.Every patient has one.The doctor’s name is printed on the front, and inside are his notes, test results and, rather wonderfully, his artistic interpretation…
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I Did Everything Right
Four years ago, I went for a routine check-up.I felt perfectly well. A routine check-up seemed like something everyone over age 50 did. Ten of us decided to make a day of it.I wasn’t expecting my life to change that day. But boy, did it!I heard the words no one ever expects or wants to…
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