Cancer

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The Everyday Magic Blog

I'm so happy to share my blog, started in 2008 as part of my writing practice and as way to connect directly with you! Please peruse the blog, and sign up to get the latest posts. You can also get my beautifully-produced and illustrated collection of many blog posts, Everyday Magic: Fieldnotes on the Mundane and the Miraculous through Meadowlark Press here. Thanks for being part of my everyday magic.

Five Years Later: A Cancer Story: Everyday Magic, Day 1098

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Apr 304 min read

Five Years Later: A Cancer Story: Everyday Magic, Day 1098

"It's either an ocular melanoma or a brain tumor," the doctor told me five years ago. Ken, my brother Ravi, and I all gasped in unison....

Boobs and Bravery on the Move: Everyday Magic, Day 1061

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Jun 27, 20223 min read

Boobs and Bravery on the Move: Everyday Magic, Day 1061

It’s been a week of boobs and bravery on the move (and I don’t mean the supreme court, which I have other names for rather than slang for...

Cancer Anniversaries: Everyday Magic, Day 1056

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Apr 30, 20224 min read

Cancer Anniversaries: Everyday Magic, Day 1056

Cancer is often measured in anniversaries and fruit. We survivors often report in with our years out from the cancer after our initial...

My Friend Vaughn and the Walk to the House Down the Road: Everyday Magic, Day 1054

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Mar 30, 20224 min read

My Friend Vaughn and the Walk to the House Down the Road: Everyday Magic, Day 1054

“Vaughn keeps talking about the house down the road,” Julie, his wife, told me just a few days before he died. I listened on the other...

Love and Death in February: Everyday Magic, Day 1050

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Feb 13, 20222 min read

Love and Death in February: Everyday Magic, Day 1050

“Maybe since January lasted for seven and a half years, February will be easy,” I said to my friend Kris. She was doubtful since...

Listening to the Land With New Hearing: Everyday Magic, Day 1061

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Oct 26, 20212 min read

Listening to the Land With New Hearing: Everyday Magic, Day 1061

Lying in bed this morning between layers of flannel with a purring kitty under the covers with me, I dreamed in and out of the call of a...

Make Mine an MRI With a Side of Enya and a Rainbow for Dessert: Everyday Magic, Day 1060

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Oct 6, 20213 min read

Make Mine an MRI With a Side of Enya and a Rainbow for Dessert: Everyday Magic, Day 1060

Question: How many MRIs does it take a claustrophobe to relax? Answer: When Brandon, the wonderful (re: tolerant) MRI tech asked I told...

Rematerializing After Being Beamed Up: Everyday Magic, Day 1036

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Apr 23, 20213 min read

Rematerializing After Being Beamed Up: Everyday Magic, Day 1036

In the Star Trek shows and films, someone can yell out, with grave urgency or casual cheer, “Scotty, beam me up” then off they go. But...

A Visit to Scan Land: Everyday Magic, Day 1033

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Mar 20, 20213 min read

A Visit to Scan Land: Everyday Magic, Day 1033

“I’m here for my monogram,” a silver-haired woman told the receptionist. “Yes, your mammogram,” the receptionist answered without missing...

Life (and Tinnitus) in the Key of G: Everyday Magic, Day 1030

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Mar 5, 20212 min read

Life (and Tinnitus) in the Key of G: Everyday Magic, Day 1030

Last night, I found that my tinnitus buzzes and hums in the key of G. How did I find this? By singing in key with the tinnitus while...

What is a Year?: Everyday Magic, Day 1009

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Jun 17, 20202 min read

What is a Year?: Everyday Magic, Day 1009

A year ago, I was positively radioactive. On June 14, I had surgery to insert a tiny gold disk of radioactive pellets in my right eye,...

The Peonies Where a Tornado, Cancer Diagnosis, and Pandemic Meet: Everyday Magic, Day 1007

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

May 24, 20203 min read

The Peonies Where a Tornado, Cancer Diagnosis, and Pandemic Meet: Everyday Magic, Day 1007

As I watch the Pendleton’s peonies I just bought rush from tight little balls to full-throttle fireworks of blossoms, I keep thinking of...

Cancer Anniversary: From a Personal Pandemic to a Global One: Everyday Magic, Day 1005

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Apr 29, 20205 min read

Cancer Anniversary: From a Personal Pandemic to a Global One: Everyday Magic, Day 1005

A year ago today, pacing an empty parking lot, I cried so hard on the phone with my friend Kelley that it was hard to get the words out:...

Scans For Life: Everyday Magic, Day 956

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Feb 6, 20204 min read

Scans For Life: Everyday Magic, Day 956

Years ago when I was in the oncology center waiting room for an appointment following my bout of breast cancer, two women made me cry....

Counting on the Other Side of Cancer: Everyday Magic, Day 984

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Sep 8, 20193 min read

Counting on the Other Side of Cancer: Everyday Magic, Day 984

When life feels out of control, I start counting. I first noticed this habit/neurosis/coping mechanism when I was in labor for my oldest...

Loving and Leaving Goddard: Everyday Magic, Day 981

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Aug 7, 20194 min read

Loving and Leaving Goddard: Everyday Magic, Day 981

Arm-in-arm, Vicky, Eduardo, Ralph, and I walked down the snowy country road, belting out “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” and doing...

When Life Reboots You: Everyday Magic, Day 980

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Jul 28, 20193 min read

When Life Reboots You: Everyday Magic, Day 980

I realize that all of us get rebooted in our lives, and usually more than once, catalyzed by a medical diagnosis, a big loss and plunge...

Oh, For the Relief of Pain!: Everyday Magic, Day 977

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Jun 26, 20193 min read

Oh, For the Relief of Pain!: Everyday Magic, Day 977

All of this has me thinking a lot about the lengths I could go to to outrun pain, which are considerable. I can’t imagine slapping a...

“God’s Got You, Baby”: Everyday Magic, Day 976

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Jun 17, 20193 min read

“God’s Got You, Baby”: Everyday Magic, Day 976

That’s what Cynthia said as she led me back to the surgery prep room when I told her I was scared. “And don’t you worry because God made...

Preparing to Be Unprepared and Other Quirks of Cancer: Everyday Magic, Day 975

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Jun 11, 20193 min read

Preparing to Be Unprepared and Other Quirks of Cancer: Everyday Magic, Day 975

As I get ready for surgery at high noon on Friday to implant a teeny-tiny gold bowl bearing radiation under my right eye, I realize how...

Get your copy of Everyday Magic: Field Notes on the Mundane & Miraculous -- a collection from this blog -- from Meadowlark Press.

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