Welcome to my video postcards...
It's an absolute honor and a privilege to have been invited by Patient Power, an international cancer care platform, to share my treatment story on their website.
Over the last few days something significant has happened that I’m excited to share with you: my courage, love and legacy blog has been amplified by an opportunity to create a vlog (video-log/video post-card) in partnership with Patient Power, a website that offers a rich range of information for people going through cancer, including the latest research, trials, treatment as well as personal stories.
This means, my heart to journey alongside other’s with cancer, encouraging, inspiring and sharing deep, meaningful and real stories from this walk we’re on, has just enlarged in an amazing and profound way. At first, I found the video-logs intimidating and it really hard to find the words; I’m usually someone who likes to avoid being in-front of a camera (I’m far more comfortable with wearing the producer’s hat!), but as I’ve warmed up to it and found encouragement and support from the team at Patient Power, I can really feel the value of putting a face to my thoughts and connecting at an even more personal level with people. It’s taken massive amounts of courage, but that’s what I’ve sworn to live by right?
And I’d like to welcome all our new subscribers; it really is an honor to have you join this journey of Courage, Love and Legacy with me. My blog posts come out about every 3 to 4 weeks. I don’t ever want to overwhelm your inbox, so I like to send emails with enough space between them that you can savour the thoughts and ideas I share and take time to reflect on how they might resonate in your own life. Courage, Love and Legacy is not just for people with CLL, it started out as updates to my home community, and is now read by people with other types of cancer, their care givers, friends, family. If you find it encouraging, you’re welcome to share it with others who are walking the journey with you. My biggest hope and encouragement (which you’ll find threaded through most of my posts) is that you have or find someone to share deeply and be vulnerable with. It definitely makes any difficult journey a little easier to bear.
So without further adieu… here’s a link to the first one of our video post-card series… and I’ll continue to post links to these additional videos, along with my regular written blogs.
A Young Mom Confronts “Skyrocketing White Blood Cell Counts”
Exploring Courage, Love and Legacy
Also if you’re new here, feel free to explore my homepage where you’ll find a selection of posts grouped into various, hopefully helpful, themes - recent posts, the first few days, family and cancer, watch and wait and faith and cancer.
To help you out, I’ve curated a selection below that will fast-forward you through my journey over the last 22 months. Hopefully you find one or two stories and reflections that resonate with where you’ve found yourself on your own journey…
#1 Diagnosis Day
One sunny spring day in 2022, I went for an ordinary routine blood test (to check my iron levels) and less than 2 hours later, my doctor was on the phone, checking how I was feeling.
Cheering from the sidelines
It's such a beautiful thing raising children. It's such a privilege. There is no doubt that being a parent takes both courage and love, all in the name of legacy. But it's not a position to take for granted. Cancer has made me all to aware of the fragility of this existence and it's made me cheer all the louder from the sidelines
The Conundrum of Co-existing with Cancer
I'm about 9 months into my cancer diagnosis, and over the last few months there's definitely been a shift. I guess the immediate shock has worn off and life must go on. With the specialist saying, that despite a high WBC, he's not going to treat me unless the CLL starts to impact my quality of life, I've been kind of left hanging.
Ready or not, here I go...
I’m quite taken by the name of the Clinical Trial I’ve just signed up for! “Celestial” - it sounds one of hope, promise and heaven. And as I try to compose this email to you, I sit with the tension of wishing I was not having to sign up for it, and being so thankful that it’s started just when I need it.
And I'm free falling....
Last week, I started Obinutuzumab (“Obi” for ease) infusions as my first line drug in Celestial Trial’s Arm B, Venetoclax and Obinutuzumab one year combo.
An Infusion of Love
As Anton and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in the cancer clinic this week, we were profoundly enriched by time spent with fellow patients. "Love is so supremely important."