Living As A Cancer Survivor

Mark Everett Kelly (author of "My Scars Tell A Story" his endless battle with cancer and its side effects) details his life living as a survivor of a rare skeletal muscle cancer (Rhabdomyosarcoma). This blog is perfect for anyone who shares the suffering, sacrifice and hopes you face every day in dealing with living as a cancer survivor.

LACS - Saying Goodbye to My Best Friend

October 12, 2020 Mark Everett Kelly

The culmination of sadness occurred on October 9th. While I prepared for work, I checked on my dog of 15 years and best friend in the world. He struggled through Thursday, and I knew time was short, but it still didn't prepare me for what came next.

LACS: 9/11 Heroes, "Let's Roll" Mentality Needed Now

September 11, 2020 Mark Everett Kelly

Those facing certain death on Flight 93 run through my mind today. Would I have acted that heroically? Seeing what current differences separate us as a nation now, I humbly ask all of you to ask yourself these questions.

LACS: OH, HOW I HATE COVID-19!!! - Part 2

August 22, 2020 Mark Everett Kelly

The cold hard reality is things never will be what we knew before COVID. Too many lives, jobs, and relationships lost, too many innocent people dying alone, too much unnecessary violence. I pray none of that was in vain, and we learn as a society how to prevent another COVID.

LACS - Crohn's Destruction: Trauma, Anxiety, Fear and How To Help

August 12, 2020 Mark Everett Kelly

I feel the need to represent those suffering from this silent disease and how it destroys much of your hopes, self-worth, and ranks among the highest cause of suicide due to the humiliation it causes.

LACS - Life After Cancer? (Part 2)

July 28, 2020 Mark Everett Kelly

One of the most common phrases used in my discussions with various people, companies, or organizations is "there is nothing I (we) can do." Such massive gutlessness makes me cringe and very confrontational.

LACS - Life After Cancer? (Part 1)

July 22, 2020 Mark Everett Kelly

Understanding that your body will respond to outside stimuli vastly different creates anxiety, which one might never recover. While lifestyle changes can cause depression due to the constraints forced upon survivors, physical changes caused by treatment is enormously traumatic.

LACS - Integrity and Diversity

June 10, 2020 Mark Everett Kelly

Integrity is unlike other personality traits; evaluations do not reside in personal feelings. Friendships appreciate specific aspects of how a person exudes said trait, while even dealing with negative consequences, detractors often reach similar conclusions.

Living As A Cancer Survivor - Discouraged & Vulnerable

February 12, 2020 Mark Everett Kelly

Many survivors deal with chronic pain that creates new feelings of vulnerability. I am starting to worry about what is going to happen to people in my position. This week I have been dealing with excessive swelling from lymphedema. The term is redundant since there is no one without the other.

Living As A Cancer Survivor - Thanksgiving 1990

November 28, 2019 Mark Everett Kelly

A portion of today’s blog can be found below

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! - Before I begin, I want to take this time to wish everyone the Happiest Thanksgiving imaginable and that the good Lord bless and keep all of you.

Thanksgiving 1990 was a change for me (not nearly as drastic as the next 28 were), but that year was the first spent without both my mother and father together. Earlier that year (September), they had split, and I was living at home with my father while my mom stayed with my oldest sister and her husband.

Living As A Cancer Survivor - From Tiers to Tears - Part 2

November 20, 2019 Mark Everett Kelly

Any relationship which one relies on the other financially can cause resentment. It can also create the one who needs assistance to feel shame. I did. Never again will I put the burden of my health issues on anyone else. I am limited, but not useless. It is essential to me that I be financially independent, even if I die trying.

Living As A Cancer Survivor - From Tiers to Tears - Part 1

November 13, 2019 Mark Everett Kelly

I have not been myself these last few months. I've been angry, short with people, overly sarcastic, and redundantly cynical. That is not the person I am. I always had a positive outlook on life. The only time I get to be myself is when I'm on the radio for six hours during the week.