When we’re facing a serious illness, either for ourselves or for someone we love, hope can be a tricky thing. We’re encouraged to be hopeful because, of course, the opposite is to be hopeless, and who wants to do that? We don’t want to “give up hope,” but if a diagnosis is terminal, what exactly…
Recovering from anesthetic is harder than I expected! I’ve been off the radar for a few days, but have been very well cared for by Julie Kerr and others. I can finally keep water and food down, I’m able to have marginally creative conversations, and today I’m contemplating a shower. These are huge improvements, and…
It’s Friday the 13th, tonight is a full moon, and I’m beginning the process. I’m in pre-op now, with surgery at 9:50 Mountain time. Many thanks for all your love and support. I’ll see you on the other side.
Hello Friends, Sarah’s sister Julie here with a status update from the recovery room.Sarah is doing great. Surgery went well, and she’s had a 1/2 a turkey sandwich and a couple of Tylenol 3’s and is resting well. She needs to rest and recuperate, but the worst is over and we’re all on the other…
I’m out the other side, and very grateful for the kind and skillful care I received all day. I’ve never had this much experience with the provincial healthcare system, and I knew we were lucky to have it, but I’m even more convinced of that now. Many thanks for all the wonderful love and support…
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It’s hard to find words to express my gratitude for the incredible response to my video yesterday. The love and generosity that’s flowing towards me is filling me in ways that I didn’t know were possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. The timing is perfect, because…
Good News! I just got the results of the biopsy on my right breast, and the lump there is not cancerous. It still needs to be removed, but it’s a less complicated procedure, and they’ll do it when they do the left-side lumpectomy this Friday. What a relief. Also, here’s a video I made this…
Many thanks to all the dear ones who gathered around me yesterday in an amazing healing ritual. The intention was to prepare me for surgery (a lumpectomy) next week, and to help my confused cancer cells come back into health and balance. 50 of us gathered on a sunny September afternoon, and shared prayer, singing,…
I had a needle biopsy on my right breast today, to explore a suspicious spot that showed up on an MRI last week. It wasn’t the most fun way to spend an afternoon, but I’m OK. This is my second biopsy (the first discovered the tumor in my left breast.) I found this one much…
Cancer is tenderizing me. Everything is more poignant, both the beautiful experiences and the difficult ones. The MRI found a small “enhanced area” in my other breast and the radiologist wants to check it out more closely. It may be nothing, or it may be something. I’m waiting at the hospital, for an ultrasound appointment…
I got a request to make a video about how to tell whether or not we’re stuck in grief. There are three important things to know about grieving and timing. The first one is that everyone’s journey is completely unique. You will move at your pace. It won’t look like other people’s pace, and what’s…
It’s been an interesting experience, speaking so often and so publicly about my breasts. They’ve always been a fairly intimate and private part of my body, but that’s changed. I guess breast cancer does that. I didn’t do regular self exams, but if I did, I would likely have caught this lump earlier. I think…
I’ve been thinking about how healing happens, and I’m curious to hear people’s experiences about “miraculous” or “inexplicable” healings. At one level, there’s the Newtonian approach to healing, in which _things_ move around, changing shape, or quality, or relationship with each other. A broken leg heals when the bones knit back together. An infection heals…
Here’s a huge gratitude-filled update for all of you who have been sending love and healing to me through my prayer crystals. I’ve taken the crystals with me everywhere, and I sleep with them each night. They bring me great comfort, and I feel a strong connection to all of you who love and support…
It’s been a week now since I’ve shared publicly about my cancer diagnosis, and I’m moved beyond words at the wonderful love and support I’ve received. In this update, I talk about how I discovered the tumor, and why I’ve decided to delay surgery for a bit, so that all the different parts of me…
I got some big health news this week and I want to share it with you. It’s easier to talk about it than to type, so I’ve made a video to explain what’s happened. Thanks for listening
You may have heard the word animism, and wondered what it meant, and why it might be relevant for ritual practitioners, especially those of us who work with people at the end of life. Animism is a worldview, it’s a way of looking at and making sense of the world around us. It comes from…
Where people sit at a funeral ceremony can feel like a small decision on the outside, but on the inside, it’s a really big decision. It’s similar to the order in which the surviving family is listed in the obituary. It’s an important symbolic statement about who’s who in the family, and particularly about who’s…
Stay connected, and learn about sacred deathcare resources and training programs.
