In the spirit of documenting this journey (as many people keep reminding me to do), today's update will take the form of a 'Top 10' list since receiving chemo treatment 1. The word rancid doesn't work hard enough to describe the mouth taste. For sure the most imposing symptom that I didn't hear about before this started is the horrid metal taste in mouth coupled with most things tasting like trash. It's a bit hard to stay constantly hydrated when water tastes like the back of

Straight up I'm going to make it clear that I'm on Day 5 after the first chemotherapy and the brain fog is very real; this update today is very far from a literary masterpiece. All things considered, the 6.5 hours in the hospital receiving 4 different drug infusions, went rather well. The Chris O'Brien cancer clinic in Sydney is a gift to cancer patients as it presents a bright, positive and relatively comforting space to be getting treatment. I entered the hospital that mor

On Thursday the 5th of March I'll start chemotherapy for this breast cancer. I'm not sure where week 4 falls on the 'grieving process' but for me it's been full of anxiety, anger and apathy for anything happening outside my immediate bubble. I've found myself several times having to explain how serious the situation really is. Whether it's to my workplace as I'm left a week out from treatment trying to figure out how I'm going to afford our mortgage and bills or to well-meani

An unlikely hero has emerged in the earliest stages of my breast cancer journey. The serendipitous moment she called and spent an hour sharing her wisdom and guidance whilst I sat on a park bench outside a hospital, is truly something I will never forget. The two women who created the opportunity for this connection to happen are also very important and influential in my past, present and future, to me and in regard to this topic. It is the reason this week's update will take

On Christmas day 2025, I felt a bit off and decided to take a pregnancy test. To my delight, it was positive and we were so happy to share the news with the family. Having just recovered from an advanced miscarriage a few months earlier, it was such a blessing to be able to be excited about what the new year would hold for us now. Once the Doctor's were back online after the holidays, we excitedly went in to get everything set up, all the tests done etc. During the appointmen

It's been 10 days since I was diagnosed with invasive and advanced stage breast cancer. I could share a hundred cliche anecdotes about how it's been a rollercoaster, but the truth is I'm not going to focus on literary excellence here, I just want to get it all down. My aim is to firstly get things out of my head, to make sense of all the things that I've been learning (or unlearning..) and writing has always been my way of doing that. A second goal is to make sure I don't was