Fear: The Unwanted Passenger

Posted June 18th, 2019

Author’s note: I wrote this piece a few years back but, of course, it still speaks to me. Probably always will. You might feel the same.  I visited my dermatologist the other day. “Fifteen years!” she said. So long ago, yet sometimes so close.  The thing is, once you have had a diagnosis of cancer […]

Karen Arnold-Korzeniowski, BSN, RN

Doc, how much time have I got?

Posted February 26th, 2018

For some cancer patients, by the time their cancer is diagnosed or because of how aggressive the cancer is, they will be told that the intent of their treatment is not to cure them of cancer, but to give them some more time. This can mean a variety of treatments or it may mean that […]

Cancer as a gift? No, thank you.

Posted February 19th, 2018

I walked beside my husband, Gary, with late stage prostate cancer for several years longer than the professionals originally projected. Ten burbling, courage-filled, memory-making, oddly-sweet years. The experience taught us to notice life, and all the simple pleasures we hadn’t meant to take for granted, and all the astonishing people who surrounded us in love. […]

Should We Let Disagreeable Conditions Defer Our Plans?

Posted January 23rd, 2018

Earlier this week, I joined up with two of my cancer-kicking friends, Mike and Bina, and snow-shoed from Mt. Bachelor in central Oregon out to Todd Lake – a cold, gray-shrouded trek. Had I planned to snowshoe on my own, I probably would have canceled — because it was raining in town, which most likely […]

Define Your Purpose; Live Your Reason

Posted January 4th, 2018

Three years ago—as a new cancer widow, resigning my job, and preparing to write full-time at the encouragement of my adult children—I sent a farewell letter to the community I served as Survivorship Coordinator at the St. Charles Cancer Center. A friend wrote back, sharing the words that had been his mantra as his young daughter […]

Putting Dreams on Paper

Posted May 18th, 2017

I’m at a coffee shop—one of those fabulous local places where the high ceilings thrum with industrial pipes and funky lighting, and a large garage door is open to let in the mountain air—waiting for two of my creative team members. Jim and Michelle are meeting me here to brainstorm over some needed changes to […]

Who are you traveling with?

Posted April 27th, 2017

A number of fellow travelers accompanied me through this past week. And I’m pretty sure—based on the therapeutic sheer pleasure of hanging out with them—I’m much healthier than when the week began. There was my cancer-kicking, wilderness-hiking posse at our season opener: Six gentle miles along the Metolius River. And my Walking for Wellness gang—also cancer-kicking—who […]

Why Telling Our Stories Can Be Healing

Posted August 24th, 2016

I met this amazing young woman, Sarah Thebarge, at a writers’ conference in Portland this past week when I took her coaching class, “The Healing Power of your Story.” Coaching classes are eight hours in length, spread over three days;   they include writing exercises and the time allows for some excellent in-depth instruction. This […]

How to Dare Greatly With Cancer

Posted August 8th, 2016

Granddaughter Lilly, a black belt in Mixed Martial Arts, recently competed in an MMA tournament and captured two third place finishes. On the way home, she and I FaceTimed and of course she was disappointed, because she has some rather nice first-place hardware in her room at home. But by the time she and her dad stopped for lunch and she […]

3 Great Reasons To Have Gratitude On Your Cancer Team

Posted July 25th, 2016

When cancer showed up (on top of financial setbacks), I’m sorry to say I did my share of whining. For the most part it wasn’t out loud, but there was a definite lack of gratitude in my heart for much of anything. There are some concepts, though, that we all sort of know. And one […]