Graciously Tenacious

Earlier today I was working on some health insurance paperwork and while doing that I was getting flash backs of when I was going through the process of being diagnosed with cancer. So I decided that today I would talk about how I got diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I will skip the problems I had with insurance because I don't want to go into an angry rant. In November of 2016 I felt a lump above my collar bone. I didn't think anything of it. A month later I noticed the lump again and realized that I should probably get it checked out. So I made an appointment with my doctor in January. If you can't tell yet, this process took months. When I had my appointment, I remember sitting there telling my doctor that I felt a lump on my neck. As my doctor started to palpitate my neck she was having a hard time finding the lump that I mentioned. She said she couldn't feel anything. As I look back on this moment I realize that I could have just said okay and moved o...

Last year when I was going through chemotherapy, I realized the importance of surrounding yourself with good people. I also learned that some people are not sure what to do when others are struggling. Whenever people say, "If you need anything just let me know", I kind of cringe. I know it's said out of kindness but it's not the most helpful thing you can do. Especially if it is said over social media. When people are struggling, whether it be sickness, mental health issues or any other life hurdles, it is difficult to ask for help. So people will not let you know if they need help. Although I had a few people say this line to me, for the most part I experienced the most genuine acts of love and kindness from my community. Instead of just saying "Let me know if you need anything" they offered to help, asked how they could help and sacrificed their own time to help me. Family, my husband and friends offered to cook for me, drive me to appointments, hang o...

Hi Friends, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Christina but everyone calls me Nina and last year I was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I am currently in remission, (almost one year) and this upcoming anniversary has me thinking about all the things I learned over the last year and a half. So I decided to restart this blog and write things down so I wouldn't forget #chemobrain. So excuse me if this blog sometimes sounds like a diary post, or even a rant. I just really feel like I need to write these stories out and share how life has changed, hoping that someone out there will be blessed and encouraged. Today lets talk about... talking about cancer with new friends. I would be the first to admit that I can sometimes be an awkward person...especially in social situations. Cancer intensified that. I didn't know and still quite don't know when is a good time to share about my journey with cancer (kinda the reason for this blog I guess). Las...

Most days I have a schedule set in my head of all the things I need to do for the day. I have things carefully planned out so that I have time to do all the things that I need to do. About a month ago I had a lot on my plate and within the course of that day it all came crashing down. On this particular day I had planned to take my car to the mechanic, hang out with my boyfriend, pick up my car, go to work then hang out with a friend. I had it planned out that I would drop my car off at the shop when it opened and then pick it up at 2:30 which would give me enough time to drive across town to be at work at 3:30. In the morning everything went as planned. Around noon I get a text from a friend, asking for some help with her car. She needed a jump. I was hanging out with my boyfriend about 10 min from her house so we went over to jump her car with his. When we get there, they start hooking up the jumper cables and I step to the side of the house to call my mechanic. As I call I am ...

Recently while perusing facebook, I saw a meme that said, “You have as many hours in the day as Beyonce”. For those of us who follow pop culture on the lowest level, you would know that Beyonce is a busy woman, she performs all over the world, does interviews, photo shoots, expresses her feminist beliefs, travels, is a wife, has a baby and does it all looking “flawless”. She’s a busy women and we are being told by the meme that if Beyonce can do all that she does, we can be just as busy and “productive” because we all live under the same time constraints. Some people would say that I am a busy person, I work two part time jobs, I intern at a non-profit, I am a student leader at Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at CSULA and I go to class (oh and somehow I found time to write this blog). Not to forget the relationships that I have and try to maintain (#sorryforbeinganabsentfriend). I believe that we can do so much in a single day, we can plan and work and be super productive. That ...