lunhs cancer

This past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing my baby brother get married. When he and his then-fianc�e announced their engagement last August, I secretly feared that I wouldn't be around to see the big day. Thankfully, I made it! All the wedding stuff got me reflecting on marriage, and being a know-it-all big sister I can't help but give a little unsolicited marriage advice - not that the newlyweds will read this, since they are off honeymooning! Lounging out before the ceremony People often sagely say that "marriage takes work" and "marriage is hard." I think they are emphasizing the wrong thing. It's not marriage that is hard; life is hard.  In the words of my favorite superhero, " The hardest thing in this world is to live in it ." It is hard to face all the random twists and turns that life throws at you. It is hard to be thoughtful and kind. It is hard to remember to say "thank you" for all the little things. It's hard n...

I almost titled this post "Sharing My Story," but realized that this is much bigger than me. Today I had the honor of speaking at the Peter A. Kaylor Lung Cancer Walk in Allegan, Michigan. I know how lucky I am to be able to speak out about this disease, when so many others who have gone before me are no longer able to do so. This was what I had to say about my one year, four months, and five days (so far) of living with lung cancer. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It started with a cough that wouldn�t go away. But everybody I knew had a cold, so it didn�t seem like a big deal. I started to feel a little better, but before long I had another chest cold. And I was exhausted, but I was in grad school full time, working, and raising a 4 year old and infant twins. Who wouldn�t be exhausted?!? But my breathing kept getting worse, so the doctor thought it was a return of my childhood asthma. We tried one medication, then another, then another. But I kept getting worse. Finally, in May of 2013 they sent...