My friends and clients describe me as resourceful. In earlier years, my family may have just described me as very apt at getting what I wanted with a minimum amount of hassle. (Okay, they may have been a little more direct and called it lazy). I would say that I like to know where to get information.
As a survivor of childhood cancer, in the last few years- particularly after the publication of the NEJM article on the topic, I learned the term “late effects.” I have met adult survivors of childhood cancer - even from the 1970’s and before- and have collected a wealth of information from them.
I enjoy my work with people challenged with illness, particularly children, as they are resilient and full of life. The financial burden on families faced with catastrophic illness is enormous, and sometimes I find myself more of a social worker than a therapist, which is fine too.
Then of course, there is the change in lifestyle that goes along with managing one’s health. I know, huh? That’s what I said. Exercise, eating healthy, organic foods, whole grains. For those of you who have been in my office during lunch you also know that I am not going to spend my life chasing it- and sometimes in-n-out burger is just the thing to cure a bad mood. My secretary thinks so, and my husband would agree. But, on the whole, many of the people who cross my path are on a similar journey. Life is funny like that.
Since it all started at a doctors office- Link here to the articles and posts on cancer - including recent research on late effects, grants, and support groups.
And if that doctor’s office were a fly, and I were an old lady…
You know the old nursery tale? “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly, I don’t know why she swallowed a fly, perhaps she’ll die.” But no, she goes on…eventually.. “There was an old lady who swallowed a cat, fancy that, to swallow a cat! She swallowed a cat to catch the bird. She swallowed the bird to catch the spider. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. Why oh why did she swallow that fly?”
I don’t know why I swallowed that fly. But, I am fairly certain I have not swallowed the horse. Yet.
You can however, in addition to the fly (cancer) archives- link to the spider, bird, and wherever else I might have gotten into here. To date this might be the Green Pages or Whole Paychex archives. And, actually, many of you have sent me information, which I have included here.
Let’s hope we get that fly before we have bitten off more than we can chew.
LR