Looking back, I call the first month after my diagnosis 'the cancer bubble' because I wasn't showing obvious signs of my disease. I looked about the same - maybe a little more tired and pale than usual, but a stranger could never have guessed that I carried a secret, deep in my bones.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the hidden struggles and the facade people can maintain despite serious challenges.
Suleika Jaouad's quote delves into the experience of living with a serious illness, highlighting how one can appear normal on the outside while carrying a profound internal struggle. This notion of the 'cancer bubble' encapsulates the isolation and secrecy that often accompany such a diagnosis, demonstrating how people might hide their true feelings and conditions from the outside world.
In practice
This quote could be shared at a cancer awareness event to highlight the importance of understanding the inner battles individuals may face.
After my diagnosis at age 22 with leukemia, the second piece of news I learned was that I would likely be infertile as a result of chemotherapy. It was a one-two punch that was my first indication that issues of cancer and sexual health are inextricably tied.
Just a few years ago, at the age of 22, I learned I had an aggressive form of leukemia. I needed intensive chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant to save my life. Back then, my doctors told me that I had a 35 percent chance of surviving my transplant.
When I was diagnosed with cancer at age 22, I learned just how much cancer affects families when it affects individuals.
I remember my first day of chemo as if it were yesterday, hanging up my favorite summer dress like an athlete retiring a jersey. Within a few weeks, my waist had shrunk to a double zero - the size it was when I was in the sixth grade. My cheek bones jutting out. Rings under my eyes. Skin the color of chalk.
In my darkest days in the oncology unit, I promised myself that if I ever got into remission one day, I would become a stronger, healthier and better version of my precancer self.
Today, my brother and I share almost identical DNA, the result of a successful bone marrow transplant I had last April using his healthy stem cells. But Adam and I couldn't be more different.
I say to people today, 'You must be prepared if you believe in something. If you believe in something, you have to go for it. As individuals, we may not live to see the end.'
Every red stripe in that flag represents the black man's blood that has been shed.
On a very long and very high wire, I will not hope to not be blown off by high winds. I will have the certitude that such could not happen.
To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that.
Not responding is a response--we are equally responsible for what we don't do. In the case of animal slaughter, to throw your hands in the air is to wrap your fingers around a knife handle.
I was really embarrassed. And I asked why they took my picture when I was in such agony, and I'm the girl, in the moment that I was naked, burning, hopeless, crying - so ugly. And I asked why they took my picture at that that moment? I didn't like it at all.
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