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E-mail
Beth at writerbeth@
windstream.net
A
Cup of Comfort for Breast Cancer Survivors
The doctor's prediction was
absolutely right. A few weeks after my first chemotherapy treatment, my
thick, curly hair began coming out by the handfuls. It finally got so
difficult to sleep on a pillow that collected increasingly more hairs
that I asked my husband to shave my head. And I started wearing wigs.
The wig experience said so much to me about how
people often do judge a book by its cover that I had to write about it.
That's the essay I submitted to A Cup of Comfort for Breast Cancer
Survivors. If you know someone who is dealing with the consequences of
cancer, I hope you'll share this book with them.
Besides sharing the humor of that time (my hair
has returned, although it's thinner and straighter than before), I also
enjoy talking about my experience of dealing with cancer from a holistic
perspective. If you know a group that could use a speaker on that topic,
please contact me.
Yes! I Am Catholic
How this book came to be
God
is always at work in my life and once in awhile, I am blessed with the
knowledge about where God is guiding me precisely when it’s happening.
So it was in the
summer of 2005. As a longtime freelance writer who yearned to have more
time to work on my fiction, I applied for a summer artist-in-residence
grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. A few weeks after applying,
I received the call that I had been chosen and would have the opportunity
to spend a week at their retreat –
Hopscotch House – exploring the idea I had proposed. It felt like such a
success to me that it was almost as if I had already been offered a
contract to publish the book. The summer was beginning to look very good!
Then I received an
e-mail message from an editor who I had never met asking if I might be
interested in discussing the possibility of working on a book for her
publishing company. The editor was Laurie Delgatto of St. Mary’s Press
and those e-mail exchanges prompted me to think about the possibility of
writing my first nonfiction book.
The next thing that
happened didn’t get marked in the column of good news for the summer. I
was diagnosed with breast cancer.
It came as such a
shock that everything seemed slightly unreal for a few days. And there
wasn’t much time to re-establish any sort of reality before they were
wheeling me into surgery. The post-surgery news was surprising. The tumor
had been very large and fast growing, but it hadn’t spread into the
lymph nodes. Nonetheless, I would likely need chemotherapy and radiation.
My week at Hopscotch
House was scheduled for 10 days after surgery. The surgeon assured me it
would be a positive thing for me to do, so I embraced the opportunity with
enthusiasm and packed up my notes and laptop for the trip. I could deal
with oncologists and further tests when I returned.
I also had to consider
this book I might still have the opportunity to write for St. Mary’s Press. I called a fellow Catholic journalist who had been through
breast cancer treatment and asked her – am I crazy for thinking I can
write a book while going through chemotherapy? She assured me I wasn’t
crazy. As I prayed to see God’s will in this situation, it seemed
that I could not only do it, but it’s where God was leading me. What
could be more affirming and uplifting while going through chemotherapy
than to hear stories people had to tell about their faith?
And so I wrote. I
researched my novel idea at Hopscotch House then proceeded to begin writing.
When I returned home, I exchanged more e-mail messages with Laurie in
between appointments with oncologists and machines that tested me for
various cancer-related consequences. At the end of August, I began
chemotherapy. In September, I began interviewing people for Yes!
I am Catholic.
My
task was to write a book for teenagers that includes stories about why people choose to be
Catholic. Since the first audience I had ever
felt drawn to writing for was teenagers, the project seemed a response to a
long-forgotten desire. As I heard from people who experienced
their own heartaches, physical challenges and spiritual highs and lows, I
knew the project was an answer not only the prayers of the editors who
conceived it but also to my prayers for guidance in this phase
of my life.
I finished the most
intensive part of the chemotherapy in January 2006. After a short break I
moved onto the radiation as I also finished up the last of the 39
interviews. By June, I was down to an easier-to-handle chemotherapy every
three weeks and the draft of the book was finished. Not
long after that, I completed my final revisions and put the project in the
hands of the good people at St. Mary’s Press.
I hope you, too, will be open to where
God is guiding you in your life.
Listen to Beth's interview on Real Life Radio 1380
Listen to Beth's Theology on Tap talk.
Listen to Beth's interview
on
Relevant Radio 950 AM