kidney cancer — Grief Blog — Forced Joy Project

Kidney Cancer Awareness Month

I'm aware it’s a sneaky cancer that doesn’t let itself known until it’s too late. I'm aware that the “lucky” ones who discover it early, usually discover it on accident. I'm aware it has the ability to - in an instant - swoop in and steal the life of the person you love most in the world, taking your life along with it.

Dana FrostMarch 9, 2022kidney cancer, cancer, widow, widowhood, young widow, loss, kidney cancer awarenessComment

Brad's 40th

Like most milestones and momentous events, it’s complicated and a full pendulum of emotions. It’s a week with lots of highs. And it’s also a week of one significant low - the unfillable hole that is the absence of Brad.

Dana FrostJune 3, 2021life after loss, grief, grief resources, widow, young widow, cancer widow, kidney cancerComment

Imagine You Have 100 Days to Live

Imagine thinking you have decades of life left. Plenty of time to take that trip or write that book or watch that sunrise. But you don’t have a bottomless supply of tomorrows. You have today. Right now. And if you’re lucky - tomorrow.

Dana FrostOctober 13, 2020cancer, kidney cancer, terminal diagnosis, stage 4 cancer, widow, widowhoodComment

One Year

It was the first morning I woke up and wanted it to be over - a thought that is hard to admit, but one that, unlike so many other thoughts over the last year, comes without guilt.

Anchorlight CreativeJanuary 22, 2018death, deathiversary, cancer, kidney cancer, widow, widowhood, young widow

6 Months From Diagnosis

6 months ago, my life - my happy, perfect life - changed forever. 6 months ago today, Brad and I walked into the Saint Joseph Mercy emergency room, hoping and expecting for an infection and instead getting a stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

Anchorlight CreativeApril 12, 2017cancer, cancer survivor, kidney cancer, loss, grief, Widowhood, widow, young widow

100 Days

What if you only had 100 days to live? What would you do? Quit your job? Travel the world? Start living? Start loving? Start making your moments count?

Anchorlight CreativeMarch 17, 2017grief, loss, Widowhood, widow, young widow, kidney cancer, cancer, caregiverComment

4 Weeks

This morning Dune and I sat in your chair. The leather chair I promised you on our third anniversary in 2011, when we lived among cheap Ikea furniture and hand-me-downs and were too broke to invest in something so luxurious. The chair we finally splurged on 5 years later, after you got sick and needed a better place to read and write.

Anchorlight CreativeFebruary 20, 2017Grief, loss, love, cancer, kidney cancer, caregiver, Widowhood, widow, young widow

January 22, 2017

Today my worst nightmare happened. We lost my love, my best friend, my heart, Bradford. He passed away in our bed, holding my hand, just like he wanted.

Anchorlight CreativeJanuary 22, 2017grief, loss, grief support, Widowhood, widow, young widow, death, deathiversary, cancer, kidney cancer, caregiver

Brad’s Health Update

We wanted to provide a quick update. Last Thursday after finding a blood clot in his lungs, Brad's doctors found a significant progression of the disease.

Anchorlight CreativeJanuary 20, 2017hospice, caregiver, cancer, kidney cancer, grief

Day Zero

Many may recall: on October 27, I started the surgery process with my arms raised; ready to fight. The surgery decision came briskly, just 2 weeks following my initial diagnosis on October 12.

We never could have anticipated what would follow.

Anchorlight CreativeDecember 8, 2016caregiver, cancer, kidney cancer, grief