Reflections on cancer and community | Guest Column
Published 1:30 am Friday, March 27, 2026
Cancer made its debut in my life in April of 2025, but I wasn’t diagnosed until mid-July: triple positive stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer. What had started out as an annoying rash and mild sense of heaviness spread like lava across the skin of my 39-year-old right breast. It wasn’t long until the size difference between breasts was noticeable, and daily activities like wearing a seatbelt or playing guitar started to feel uncomfortable. I grappled to find my footing between inner knowing and outer guidance. One day at a time, my path revealed itself.
Though initially resistant to conventional treatments, I now know just how powerful these life-saving interventions are. I started chemotherapy in early December, and by the middle of the month, the redness in my right breast had receded, and the tumor shrank considerably. Only a few weeks of chemotherapy remain, and I can honestly say that my fear about it was way worse than the actual experience of it. Besides catching one of the winter’s gnarliest upper respiratory infections at the lowest point of my immune compromise, the experience has been smooth. If treatment continues on track, I’ll be receiving a double mastectomy with aesthetic flat closure in mid-May, then radiation sometime after that. It is hard to believe that it will have nearly been a full year since this saga began.
Wayfinder Wellness opened nine years ago in Friday Harbor. In those years, I have had the pleasure of walking alongside so many of you as your acupuncturist, tai chi teacher and massage therapist. I always knew that the connections I made with patients were very special, but I didn’t realize just how precious they were until I was the one needing tender care. The support has been considerable, allowing me to rest, reflect and heal.
At the beginning of the journey, the cancer navigators at St. Joe’s simplified my life exponentially by finding a way for me to receive infusions here in Friday Harbor instead of Bellingham. I have to thank the familiar faces of my weekly treatments — PIMC receptionists, imaging specialists, phlebotomists, infusion nurses and doctors — who have all played a part in making this a positive experience.
Two of the most impactful and practical cancer-related services I have received are free hotel stays from Paladin Services and free ferry tickets from Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor. Team Heeb has also offered considerable financial support. I’m compelled to thank Apple Health for the incredible coverage. I feel so fortunate to live in a state that takes care of people in this way.
Facing cancer has been one of the most harrowing chapters of my life. Despite this, I am fortunate beyond measure. I am deeply nourished by my connection to a vast network of caring, powerful and generous people who understand how to help others when they need it the most.
Being the recipient of such potent love has transformed me forever. I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life paying it forward, braless.
