Why the name Fun With Chemo? Am I making fun of chemo for cancer care?

The name comes from the attitude I developed during three seperate cancer treatments for 4 separate cancers. I tend to be a bit quirky and found that my experience was much easier when I approached it with a bit of humor. Cancer treatment is no laughing matter but it can be made a better experience when approached with a less stressful, more fun, relaxed attitude. I will not be telling cancer jokes (unless I find a few good ones… joking – smile…). I do not recommend party hats or party favors (except on your last day of chemo – all the stops are pulled out for this day).

If you are a friend, family member, or loved one of a cancer patient, you will find information about treatment, a good article on what not to say to your cancer patient, gifts, and resources. Cancer patients, you will find information about treatment and helpful articles like an article about how to Practice Visualization to help you get through the stress of dealing with cancer and cancer treatment. You will find a downloadable checklist of things to take to chemo.

I was first diagnosed with cancer in 1997 when I had treatment for breast cancer. It was caught early and treatment was effective but I developed infections at my surgical site that took almost 2 years to fight and left me with chronic pain.

In 2003, when I was expecting to celebrate the magic 5 Years Cancer Free mark, I was diagnosed with uterine and fallopian cancers (2 separate cancers as it turned out). I had a hysterectomy and chemo for my stage 1 cancers.

Fast forward 13 years to 2017. On a routine follow up, my tumor markers were elevated. My excellent doctor ordered a battery of tests and it was discovered that I had state 1B breast cancer. this was a different type of cancer than the breast cancer I beat many years before. I had more surgery, more radiation, more cheno (bald again – that makes three times…). As my treatment neared its close, I realized I did not want to do breast cancer again so I asked for a double mastectomy. This was my second surgery for this cancer. I elected to go flat as I am also a diabetic and do not heal well so did not want to face reconstruction. As a woman who always had very large breasts you might expect me to have a hard time with this but I am surprisingly ok with it.

I started this website while in treatment for my most recent breast cancer and found it “therapeutic” and I found it felt very creative. I enjoyed the whole experience of putting this site together.

I had a number of beanie hats along with purses/bags, jewelry, and more offered on my site in December of 2019 but am faced with finding new suppliers as my earlier ones flaked out on me or were impacted by Coronavirus. I also had posted about the nuts and bolts of cancer treatments. You could find things like: What Not to Say to Cancer Patients, What to Take With You For Chemo Days, and more. I will be posting info like this on this new site. Please check back as I am actively working to bring this site back up. Thanks for visiting!