More Hormonal Therapy

Thursday 08/20/26 2:00 PM

Every three months, I walk into the oncology office, sit down, and let another cancer treatment become part of my story. I never expected to write about this part of my life, but here I am, doing exactly that.

Tomorrow I’ll do the same for the fourth time since cancers return. Yet knowing what’s coming doesn’t make it easier.

A lot has happened since the last injection—physically, emotionally, and in the conversations about what comes next. The strange part is that treatment can make you feel like you’re moving forward while, at the same time, you’re standing still.

That’s the reason I choose to ‘Stay the Course‘ rather than being taken off Trelstar and Xtandi. At least the cancer in me isn’t growing and it seems as if we’re doing something rather than sitting on our laurels waiting for better or worse.

Instagram

I’ve decided to leave Instagram. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for some time. Now time can be spent with ‘Just Us.’

But I’ll wait till the end of the month.

Friday 08/21/26 7:15 AM

Deactivating Instagram

I won’t delete it. But I will deactivate it and to the amazement of maybe six people after announcing it yesterday. 😂 Okay, maybe I’m selling that number a little short. I received some comments.

Tracy Melhorn reminded me that she “can’t imagine Instagram without” me and told me that my sharing has always been uplifting. She called me an inspiration and went on to say I’d missed.

Then Tara Edwards added that she also couldn’t imagine Instagram without me either, while reminding me that she was happy for this new chapter Maya and I are starting together—and that she’s always praying for me. Tara and I are tight and will always be in contact with one another.

I’m not deactivating it because I stopped caring. Quite the opposite and if you know me you know that’s the truth. Maybe I just need to step away long enough to remember that my life is bigger than a feed, likes, and the algorithm.

And Then There’s the Boston Accent 😂

Apparently, the announcement of deactivating Instagram wasn’t the only thing happening this morning as Maya sent me a couple of funny videos about the Boston accent. Suddenly, I had a suspicion.

Mika and Lumi ratted me out. 😂😂

I can only imagine the conversation they had with their daughter after her parents and my visit to Greenfield Village.

“So, how did you like Rick?”.

“Oh, we liked him just fine. He just didn’t understand half of what we were saying.” 😂

Maybe they didn’t actually say that. But after Maya sent me those videos, I’m beginning to wonder. I’ve learned something about the Boston accent, though. Forget the R. Add the AH.

Apparently, that’s the secret. And if that’s true, then maybe I wasn’t hard of hearing at Greenfield Village after all.

Maybe I was just Michigan listening to Boston. 😂

Either way, I’m blaming Mika and Lumi. They’ve officially exposed me.

Cheers to them as I head into a new day! 💗

10 AM

Medical Oncologist

The Little Girl Beside Me

Something happened in the oncology office this morning that I wasn’t prepared for. In more than three years of cancer appointments, I had never seen a child in the waiting room.

Then a young mother walked in with a little girl who looked to be about three years old. She had the cutest curly hair, and she sat down right beside me.

She was still wearing a hospital band like a badge of honor. I don’t know why they were there. or what that little girl was facing, and I’m not going to pretend that I do. Yet it is an oncology office.

It disturbed me. Sadly, that’s the only way to describe it.

I watched her mother filling out the lengthy medical forms that I remember wanting to crumble up myself years ago. Pages and pages of questions that somehow make everything feel even more real. I could feel the unknown for them both and wanted to say something encouraging. But I couldn’t. I froze.

I know what to say to adults going through cancer. I’ve been around it long enough to know how to offer a few words of encouragement. But a young mother sitting beside her three-year-old child in an oncology office?

What do you say? I said nothing. But inside, I was saying plenty.

I was shouting why aren’t I enough? Why the little girl, too? And I was hoping they were going to be okay.

Closing — Another Step Forward

I got my injection. And, as it turns out, today’s shot was changed back to Lupron.

Another step forward.

As I walked out of the office, I looked back. The mother and her little girl were still there, still filling out those lengthy forms so I lowered my head and offered a silent prayer.

No one should suffer with cancer especially a child.

Every visit changes you, not because of what happens. Because of what you begin to notice in everyone else. Today it was the curly haired little girl and her mother whose visit broke my heart even more.

Fuck Cancer

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