OUT OF THE BLUE,
A DIAGNOSIS

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Within weeks, the world changed and this mother and daughter were launched into the scary, unknown world of cancer treatment and all the sudden changes it brings. Daughter became full-time caretaker and mom became the reluctant patient. For the next two years, we faced ups and downs of treatment, the push and pull of a morphing relationship, and the unexpected growth that treatment demands from everyone in its wake.

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No one really teaches you how to be a caregiver - or a patient. We both found that the general advice from hospitals and cancer groups was well meaning, but didn’t have much to do with the lived experience. Cancer blogs were dangerous emotional territory -- full of personal first-hand accounts of the pain of treatment and then, of course, loss, but nowhere did we find concrete answers as to what to expect and how to prepare. So, we started fumbling towards the happiest, easiest, most joy-filled cancer treatment possible. We stumbled. We succeeded. We stumbled again. We both took lots of notes and pondered each week how we could improve upon the experience. (Yes, Jessica is a planner and in her other life, creates programs & processes for elite organizations. She can’t help herself.) So we refined and reviewed, failed and fumed, succeeded and celebrated.

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So far, #blessed #thankful, our story is at a happy point. Things are on the mend. And now, we have collected all the notes and conversations to create the course we wish we’d had at the very beginning: A course about the real, lived experience of care-taking. It looks NOTHING like all those schmaltzy TV movies, let’s be clear! It is one of the most human experiences you’ll ever have.

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The guided journal is created in several parts, so can read the information at any point in your process. Pick it up, play with the information, explore on your own time. We want this to be an uplifting and encouraging experience.

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The journal meets you wherever you are in the process, from diagnosis to those weeks in the weeds, managing bandages, or working to create a magical chemo kitchen meal that is palatable. We’ve been there, and want to share the hacks, tricks, and insights we’d share with our friends in a similar situation.

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The process is overwhelming and we hope to take some of the burden off and give some space as you do the important work of taking care.

We wish you well!

Jessica (daughter * caretaker) + Susan (mom * patient)