Moms Alive!

Being a mom is hard enough. Being a mom with cancer is absolutely crazy-making.

I know because I’ve been there. When my son was just 2 months old, I was diagnosed with stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Man, was I shocked. This had nothing to do with MY PLAN—you know, the big one I’d been mapping out during the entire nine months of my pregnancy and beyond. The one in which I was an uber-mommy: bonding, breastfeeding and babywearing, all while standing on my head in mommy-and-baby yoga class, of course.

You can fill in the above scenario with your own dashed dreams, I’m sure. The point is, when you’re a mother with cancer, life changes in ways you never asked for or wanted and those changes affect not just you but also your children. As soon as you get that diagnosis, you need answers. And your questions most likely go beyond the scope of your oncologist’s expertise. How do you wean your baby so that you can begin chemotherapy? How do you break your school-age children the news? How do you stay bonded to your toddler during prolonged periods of hospitalization? And, most important, how do you stay sane?

That’s what this site is for. I want to provide a safe space to explore the specific issues that arise for mothers with cancer. In doing so, I want to dialogue not just with “experts” but also with you—because we are all active participants in our healing.

I also want to share my personal journey and invite you to rant and rave about your own. I hope through these collected stories you will find the inspiration you need to keep on going.

So take a deep breath, and repeat after me: I am not alone, I am not alone, I am not alone. I am a mom, alive.

K.M.A.