It seems there is an ongoing conversation in our culture about dog people versus cat people, but there is a much more covert group that lives on the fringes of either.
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All articles filed in Michelle Whipple
I used to believe that I could control my loved ones' emotions. I worked tirelessly to manage their thoughts and feelings, while ignoring my own; and it worked really well until it didn't. Even though on the outside I looked successful, my soul was impoverished. I am now on the path of discovering who I am, what I value, what feeds my soul and what drives my faith. I am a cancer-thriver, psychiatric PA, friend, daughter, sister, mom and truth-teller.
Colored arrows pointing to black circles
We look at the pet scan which shows a shadowy outline of my body containing the darkened shapes of liver, brain, kidneys, bladder (pee pee is funny :).
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“Embrace the incarnation.”
It was shortly after this I realized that maybe I should just let myself be 36. Maybe I should let myself embrace the incarnation.
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It’s JANUARY!
On Christmas Day in the evening, I was driving R and our new puppy home from a friend’s house. R said, “I really want to stop at the store and get a new car.” “No, we have sooooo many new toys at home! Let’s just go home and play with all of our new…
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The Crocs Miracle: Living with Intention at Disneyland
We did it! Connection and joy. It’s possible, even at Disneyland!
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J and the Alzheimer’s spider
“It’s like a spider,” she said. “That’s what they told me at the Alzheimer’s Association when I was taking care of mom. And the spider goes around and around until it stops and that’s when you can’t remember.”
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My most helpful thought
Last week I found myself rolling back and forth on the ground with a bunch of giggling asian women. I was in my kundalini yoga class at the YMCA. We were doing an exercise where we put our hands out in front of us, superman-style, while lying on our stomachs, then we turned to the right until we were on our backs, then back to center/stomach, then to the left. As I rolled back and forth on the floor with these giddy women, I thought, I live such a rich life!
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Resilience to Cancer? Finish Your Shower
The results are in! If you’ve been following the chronicles of my life here, you know I recently got concerned about some symptoms (read here). I called my endocrinologist. She ordered blood tests to check levels of catecholamines and metanepherines. These are substances that pheochromocytomas can make. When they do, it results in episodic hypertension,…
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Sit and smile
I’m going to pause here because THIS is mind-blowing for me. I’m not required to constantly shift and work and adjust and strain until perfection is obtained? Really? There is space in life for a moment’s pause to sit and smile?
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Seasonal allergies or cancer?
Right now I have a paraganglioma in my right neck. It’s called a carotid body tumor because it is wrapped around the carotid artery at the point where the artery splits to provide blood supply to my face and my brain. I had tumor removed from the same location on the left side in 2005. …
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