Fun… somehow, I’d lost it. I lost having it, lost seeking it. I forgot how much having fun lifts my spirit, my mood, and keeps me pleasant to be around. Over the last decade or so, like so many, I’ve walked through health crises (Read Our Story and My Final ... Read more
My Final Straw Moment
In May 2024, I had my “final straw“ moment. In her book Thrive, Arianna Huffington describes her final straw moment – that moment when one crosses a threshold and knows deeply in their being that something has to (I’m paraphrasing here) “radically change because you cannot continue to go on ... Read more
Getting a Diagnosis ~ Part I
In May of 2015, my husband Joe hurt his knee. Initially, we thought he strained it and it would feel better after rest and ice. It didn’t. Perhaps physical therapy would help. It didn’t. We thought the orthopedic surgeon would be able to diagnose what was causing the pain. Over ... Read more
Immediately After the Amputation ~ Part II
At the time of the diagnosis and surgery we were close to the 2-year mark of the original injury. Joe could not use his left leg as the tumor prevented him from straightening it. I could visibly see how the tumor was slowly blocking the blood flow to his calf ... Read more
Home Care and Prosthetics ~ Part III
Before Joe’s amputation, we didn’t know what to expect of Joe’s healing. We made arrangements for in-home care after the surgery, but the focus was on having the surgery as soon as possible. There was so much to process in a short time. Once Joe came home, nurses came to ... Read more
The Spread ~ Part IV
We were progressing well with Joe’s prosthetic leg when a spot showed up on a scan in his lung. Since bone cancer spreads to the lungs, Joe was having routines scans to detect things early in case it spread. In February 2018, a lung biopsy confirmed that cancer had spread ... Read more