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First Person Essays



Liz's Blog: As the Tumor Turns


One woman's battle with cancer.


By Elizabeth Churchill
CONSUMER HEALTH INTERACTIVE

Elizabeth Churchill began writing her blog in 2006 after a grapefruit-sized tumor wedged between her lungs was diagnosed as a malignant highly aggressive stage IV lymphoma.

Before her cancer diagnosis, she was the author of a horticultural column, an avid weightlifter, and a homeowner with a beautiful garden. Once she started treatment, she couldn't work, her relationship with her fiance´ ended, and she became so in debt she had to sell her home to pay the bills. Unemployed and with no health insurance, Churchill started writing to keep family and friends informed and herself sane.

Irreverent to the core, Liz Churchill's blog makes clear the terror of undergoing cancer treatment at the medical center she refers to as "Our Lady of the Damned," where patients go who have no money and no health insurance. Here, we excerpt a few of her frequently painful but always witty entries.

Page 1: "Hello from Cancerland"

Page 2: "Belly up"

Page 3: "Life on the edge"

Page 4: "You're all invited"

Page 5: "How to be a support ho"

Page 6: "The very sight of you"

Page 7: "Updates from Cancerland"

Page 8: "The scream"

Page 9: "Little Miss Meltdown"

Page 10: "Carping the diem forever"

You can visit Elizabeth Churchill's continuing blog on the Web at: http://spinningtumor.blogspot.com/




Reviewed by Michael Potter, MD, an attending physician and associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco. He is board certified in family practice.


Our reviewers are members of Consumer Health Interactive's medical advisory board.
To learn more about our writers and editors, click here.

Last updated July 15, 2009
Copyright © 2007 Consumer Health Interactive


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