Writing

Looking Back, Looking Forward

/ Jennifer / Leave a comment

Well, hello there! Today I received an email notification of a new post from a blogger whom I followed during my bout with cancer, and it inspired me to dust off my own blog and post an update.

First of all, I am doing really well. I’m now eight years removed from my breast cancer diagnosis and being declared NED. If you’d told me in 2016 that I’d make it to this point, I’m not sure I’d believe you. Yet here I am. Health-wise, I’ve had pretty minimal issues over the past year. I had an unexpected appendectomy last December (appendicitis is no fun), and I’ve also come to realize that the four-day headaches I experience on a semi-regular basis are likely migraines. Luckily, I have an appointment with a neurologist in January to remedy that.

Career-wise, I’m still a full-time freelance writer and editor, and loving it. I’ve had a pretty good year, work-wise, including having an essay featured in Wildfire literary magazine, a publication for and by young breast cancer patients and survivors. Wildfire also featured me on their podcast, The Burn. I also started writing essays for Business Insider, working with an editor I’d long admired and wanted to work with.

As I look back on this year, I feel mostly good about 2024. I certainly weathered some difficult moments (hello, election), but overall, the good outweighed the bad, which is more than I can say for the past few years. I’m nervously optimistic for 2025. I know everything won’t go the way I want (ahem, election), but I also know that I’m equipped to ride out the storms. Isn’t that the silver lining for all of us in this incredibly shitty cancer club we never wanted to join? We’ve faced one of the scariest, worst things that life can throw at a person, and somehow we found a way through it. We know how hard life can be, and yet we’re determined as fuck to hang onto and enjoy every single minute we get.

So, that’s where I’ll leave you. I wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful 2025, and even on the days when things utterly suck, know that each and every minute you get on this planet is an absolute gift.

How I Learned to Adjust to Post-cancer Life

/ Jennifer / Leave a comment

That’s the title of an essay I recently wrote for Healthline. It’s one of many pieces I’ve written lately for media outlets exploring issues related to breast cancer. Since I was laid off from my full-time job in April of last year (thanks, COVID), I’ve been writing a lot more about cancer. In one way, this kind of writing is easy because I know this topic so well. But it’s also hard. Rehashing old memories and telling stories similar to my own can be very triggering. While I have my anxiety under control, for the most part, there are certainly days that it comes roaring back to scare the hell out of me like it once did on a daily basis.

All that said, I’d like to share a few of the pieces I’ve written lately that I think might be helpful for others either in active treatment or finding their way in post-cancer life. Thanks for reading!

Healthline: 6 Overlooked Symptoms of Breast Cancer
Healthline: Parenting through Illness Prepared me for Parenting in a Pandemic
Breastcancer.org: Managing Breast Cancer, COVID-19 and the Winter Blues
Breastcancer.org: How to Fight ‘Caution Fatigue’ and Stay Vigilant about COVID Safety
Breastcancer.org: How to Stay Active During Quarantine
Mission Health Blog: The Importance of Mammograms: One Woman’s Story

Yes, I’m Still Here

/ Jennifer / 2 Comments

Whew, it has been a loooooong time, y’all. Did I miss anything?

Haha, what a year it has been. First of all, let me tell you the good news. I reached my four-year cancerversary in July, and I had the last of my annual check-ins with all my doctors last week. And every one of them said I’m doing great, and I don’t have to see them again until next year. Yay!

Now, the bad news. Of course, we’ve all had our worlds rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, and my little world is no exception. I lost my job back in April due to COVID-induced cuts at my company. It was a tough blow, but it was also the kick in the pants I needed to strike out on my own and become a full-time freelance writer–something I’ve been dreaming of for years. Six months later, I’m finding my groove and enjoying being my own boss.

One of my favorite new freelance gigs is writing for Healthline. I’ve had the chance to share my experiences with breast cancer, menopause and losing my job. I’m also writing how-to pieces for them, like this one on walking to alleviate menopause symptoms.

I also wrote one other thing that I’m pretty proud of–my memoir. I finished the first draft at the end of December and spent the first six months of this year editing and polishing. I’m querying literary agents right now, hoping someone will take a chance on it. Fingers crossed!

So, that’s the short version of what’s been going on for the past nine months. I hope that you are safe and healthy, and I promise to keep this space updated a bit more often from now on.

Writing Here and There

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If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you may know I’m a professional writer by trade. And even though I’ve neglected this space a bit over the past few months, I’ve been busily cranking out the words for other outlets. I’m really feeling the personal essay genre, writing about cancer but other things in life, as well. Here are a few recent pieces that I thought I’d share:

Protect the Skin You’re In for Cancer Wellness

How My Toddler Taught Me to Accept My Post-cancer Body for SheKnows

Why I Chose to Have Only One Kid for SheKnows

You can also read more of my writing here.

A Small Change

/ Jennifer / 8 Comments

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If you’re a regular reader of this blog (thank you!), you may have noticed I changed the name. When I started this thing, it was a diary of sorts for my journey through a breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and all that goes with that.

But I sort of felt like the name focused too much on my breasts, when this experience is about so much more than those body parts. So, I decided a name change was in order. “Strange Trip” seems apt, as this is probably the most bizarre ride I’ve ever been on. Looking back at everything that’s happened in this past year is truly surreal.

Thanks for coming along with me–it’s been a smoother ride knowing so many are cruising along with me.

A Bright Light

/ Jennifer / 3 Comments

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Today’s the day. The amazing book by poet Nina Riggs, “The Bright Hour,” is now available.

I wrote about Nina last year in this blog after reading her remarkable Modern Love essay in The New York Times about living with metastatic breast cancer. That essay led to a book deal, which gives us this gorgeous, gorgeous memoir.

I got the absolute honor of writing a piece on Nina’s book for The News & Record, the newspaper in the city where we both lived. It was probably one of the hardest–and most important–things I’ve ever written in my career as a journalist. Though I’m a writer by trade, I find it so hard to put into words the feelings I have about Nina, her story and this book. She has touched me in ways that I really almost can’t describe, at a time when I was most vulnerable and afraid.

Nina not only captures exactly what it’s like to receive a cancer diagnosis and go through treatment, but she also shines a light on the oft forgotten/overlooked metastatic/stage IV cancer community. Stories like hers are so important, and are so rarely told. Even rarer, told with such beauty, humor and courage.

I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. It will move you, and it will change you. You do not walk away from Nina’s story unaffected. And you’re better for having heard it.