Family Ties: Navigating cancers together

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." I read Dicken's "A Tale of Two Cities" in high school English, grade 10 or 11, I think.  Few things from high school classes stuck with me as much as memorizing certain required quotes from English class.  I don't know why that is but it is.  The quote above describes my life right now - getting a cancer diagnosis is really the worst of times, but learning who will be there for you, finding your own strength and resources, healing through the process in all aspects, well, that has been the best of times as well.  In the past few weeks, I've learned so much (wisdom) about radiation and endocrine therapy, but also (foolishness) the many frustrating delays in treatment and hiccu...

Life is a Highway, by Tom Cochrane, was released the year I graduated from high school, 1991.  I remember it sounding like a song of freedom, as I was getting ready to head off to university and new adventures, living in residence, meeting new people and figuring out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.   Life's like a road that you travel on When there's one day here and the next day gone Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand Sometimes you turn your back to the wind At the time, I loved all the choices I was getting to make - which classes and labs to take, what to eat in the cafeteria, when to study and when to go to Stages on a Thursday night or Ritual at Clark Hall Pub starting at noon on a Friday!  When I was diagnosed with cancer, I didn't think there would be any decisions to make.  I thought it would be a straight forward line from diagnosis to surgery to recovery, where someone else would be making the decisions.  For the most part, that...