LIFE AFTER CANCER — Unfiltered

There’s lots of scary shit you hear along the way. “It’s Cancer” was the first and scariest, until I heard “It’s back” which put the first to shame. What I wasn’t prepared for was the answer to my question “What do we do now?” The little 3-word answer “I don’t know” rocked me to the core and I started to let go. I started to let go of my role as a parent and decision making and disciplinarian and teacher. I let the fear of her death take over and that was why I was standing in the hall...

Leah HuntOctober 5, 2016PARENTING, CHILDHOODCANCER, LIFE AFTER CANCERComment

Playing Without a Net: Plan B barely worked - What if...?

Living in the after means living with a wolf at your door. The first time around, we didn't feel this way. In the back of our minds we - rational people for the most part - knew there was a chance of relapse but we also knew there were additional treatment options. We felt like we had a 'Plan B' and that gave us comfort, even if not consciously.

Leah HuntAugust 16, 2016TRANSPLANT, TRAUMA, LIFE AFTER CANCER, CHILDHOODCANCERComment

An Introduction: Beginning in the Middle...

Picking up in the middle seems an odd thing to do, and yet to me is the most natural thing in the world. I always planned on a 'normal' life and because I am a bit of a control freak and a planner, it has largely worked out that way. Good school, good job, got married, had kids, blah, blah, blah. And then Fiona, my youngest, was diagnosed with AML at 15 months of age and everything changed. Everything ground to a halt for 6 months and everything else went on the back burner and we dealt with her critical - and it was critical - illness. Six months later we brought her home in remission - a miracle of sorts - and we tried to get on with our lives. And we did a pretty good job too. We went back to work and life carried on, we treated our brush with death as something in the past and counted ourselves lucky we had 'dodged a bullet'