Stories
The Smell of My Skin: What My Radiation Techs Never Told MeI remember the exact moment. I was halfway through my second week of radiotherapy, standing in the change cubicle at the cancer centre in inner Sydney, peeling…
The financial fog after my first insurance denialThe envelope looked ordinary: my name, the insurer’s logo, a few blocks of small print and a decision that somehow made my stomach drop. I had already lived…
How to make a chemo bag that actually brings comfortWhen you're facing hours in an infusion chair, the bag you carry through the hospital doors becomes more than luggage. It turns into a portable sanctuary, the…
Twenty Minutes of Shaking on the Bathroom Floor Post-DxThe shower had just turned off. I was standing in our en-suite in Brisbane, dripping onto the bath mat, when my chest did that weird flutter it sometimes does…
Bingo Deposit Same Day Withdrawal: What Australian Players Should KnowA bingo deposit same day withdrawal promise sounds simple: add funds, play, and receive approved winnings within the same day. In practice, the phrase covers…
Styling the hospital gown: a survivor's fashion survival guideThere's a particular kind of chill that runs through you the first time you tie that awful hospital gown behind your back. The fabric is thin, the colour…
Why I stopped reading my pathology report at 2 a.mThe kettle was still warm. The dog had given up on me hours ago and retreated to the laundry, and I was perched on the edge of the couch in my old Bonds…
The Weird, Wonderful Way My Dog Helped Me HealCancer treatment rearranged my life in ways I expected and ways I absolutely did not. I expected appointments, scans, medication changes and the strange admin…
Navigating Sex and Intimacy After a Double MastectomyA double mastectomy can change the way your body looks, feels and moves through the world. It can also alter sex, desire and intimacy in ways that are…
I Kept My Breasts, and Still Felt Like a Stranger in My BodyKeeping my breasts after cancer sounded, at first, like keeping a familiar address. The shape would still be there. My clothes would still fit in roughly the…