How do you immortalize the love of two individuals meant for each other. Two sweethearts clinging to each other when cancer wants to consume and destroy one of them and collaterally destroy the other. Taken on our wedding day My beloved and I met in the birth era of online dating. He signed up for... Continue Reading →
ABC’s of Salvation
While I have dedicated a section of my blog to my faith https://lifeandirises.home.blog/cancer-and-the-christian-comfort-in-the-scriptures/ and also in these blog posts in particular https://lifeandirises.home.blog/2019/12/16/what-is-brave-its-short-for-brave-er-y/ and https://lifeandirises.home.blog/2020/10/21/wrapping-the-reigns/ tho I have also written in others, those ones jump out specifically it is important to me to express where my strength and hope lies openly among my other writings here.... Continue Reading →
Presenting My Case to Hang In There
Getting a Stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis can be hard. You may wonder what does this mean? Am I going to die tomorrow? While the disease at this stage is incurable it can still be treatable and these treatments can be tolerable and give you good quality of life. Metastatic breast cancer is a terminal... Continue Reading →
The Story Behind the Name – Life and Irises
When my husband and I bought our home many years ago beside the back door was a large Iris plant we inherited. It always brought forth giant purple blossoms. Well, for the first several years that Iris plant was safe. But every year after that despite my best intentions to avoid damaging it as I... Continue Reading →
What is Brave? Brave is Short for Brave-er-y
When it comes to matters of faith and cancer I have alot things rumbling around in my brain. First, very often I have very well intending people tell me to speak against my cancer. Fight my cancer with my words. Because the secret they say to have a good reality or outcome for ourselves and... Continue Reading →
My Brief Story and Intro Podcast 001
Hear me briefly describe how I got to my Stage 4 diagnosis. https://soundcloud.com/user-738867414/mystory
Introduction
Hello, My name is Samantha and I am a 38 year old Christian woman living with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer that had progressed from Stage 2 in less than a yr (diagnosed MBC May 2019, diagnosed Stage 2 July 2018 ). I have bone mets throughout most of my skeleton including 12 vertebrae in... Continue Reading →
Finding Sweetness, Maturing Ones Perspective
Sometimes when walking through life with a serious illness like Stage 4 cancer it can be hard to find sweetness in our everyday interactions with others, our relationship with God, even just generally, the puffy storm cloud above our heads raging with its rumbles and spiderweb-like blanketing lightning feels like a dead give away to... Continue Reading →
The Words Get In The Way
I haven't really written on my blog in a long time. Awhile back I eluded to having difficulty writing. I'm having trouble keeping up even in my groups, tho I want to spend more of my time engaging there. The effort to put together words is unbelievable now and I began thinking, maybe the road... Continue Reading →
Groundhogs Day
Sometimes I feel like I say the same things and cycle through the same feelings. Same routine different day. Its like plopping on a couch in counselors office in exhaustion leaning back and saying "I want to morph into a alarm clock because all I seem to do is think about time". Time in terms... Continue Reading →
The Things Cancer Takes From Me
Today was a sulking day. A ugly cry sulking, pull the covers over my head day. I just hate how much I've been forced to give up because of vindictive tyrannical cells that get off on setting my emotions off and taking away bit by bit any physical security or pleasure I can have. If... Continue Reading →
The Middle Years: A Preservation of Memories
In middle school and high school a lot for me changed. I liked the fact we got to change teachers throughout the day and sort of had a little more freedom. I attempted playing a musical instrument, clarinet, but really didn't end up committing to it and became more interested in singing. Part of me... Continue Reading →
A Difficult Pill To Swallow
I'm officially on my lowered dose of Ibrance, hoping the fatigue that has me walking around like freaking Frankenstein gives me a break, it hasn't yet, but I think I just need to see what a few cycles of it feel like. I haven't been rebounding energy wise between each cycle, particularly since they switched... Continue Reading →
The Early Years: A Preservation Of Memories
I grew up in a fishbowl melting pot of every type of economic background imaginable located in a modest upper lower/ lower middle part of town that was nestled between a sea of mcmansions. My father was out of my life early so I don't have many memories of him, but the ones I do... Continue Reading →
Wrapping the Reigns
During a recent sermon at church my pastor described how a charioteer would stay inside a chariot during a race back in the day when that type of racing was commonplace. The charioteer would wrap the reigns around themselves and in doing so they remained secure inside the chariot. But if they moved and turned... Continue Reading →