The Original Bone Marrow Boogie

After Candi found me through my Facebook Boogie  page, she invited me to write a bit about my “perspective of healing and surviving cancer after all this time”.  First, since she and I came up with the same title for our cancer adventures, I want to say something about how I came to call my memoir, Bone Marrow Boogie ~ the Dance of a Lifetime. The bone marrow is the juicy part of us, our very essence, where our energy is stored, as well as the birthplace of our blood cells, which made it the ideal metaphor for what I was attempting to convey. While I did not end up needing a bone marrow transplant, I endured the process of having my stem cells collected and stored; during the procedure I focused on picturing them dancing in my marrow as I watched my blood churn and spin.   Additionally, I love to dance, always have, the more impromptu the better. Whether in my kitchen, in line at the grocery store, or on a bona fide dance floor, I am dancing the jig of a lifetime as I contemplate how close I came and how lucky I am.  So it's a title of both acknowledgment and celebration, and in my mind it's crucial to do both.

Some of you probably know of Steven Levine’s work with death & dying.  I credit him for my firmly held belief that I was not responsible for my cancer; I was responsible to it.  The distinction matters, because too many people blame themselves for the diseases that befall them, even if their lives and lifestyles have been exemplary.  I chose to embrace my healing process, in lieu of drowning in self-recrimination.  Thank goodness!

I was diagnosed with acute B-cell lymphoma, on December 23rd, 1998. Now, 12 years later, at age 62, I feel blessed with good health and a whole lot of energy for life, and yet I still feel a bit superstitious proclaiming such good fortune out loud.  Even though the first two years post-diagnosis are the most critical for acute lymphoma, I remained vigilant and, at times, fearful for about eight years.  Anniversaries snuck up on me at a time when most people were celebrating the winter holidays, and I used them as opportunities to renew my pledge to live as consciously and joyfully as possible.

While I am no longer preoccupied with my own treatment and recovery, I am as mindful of life’s fragility as ever.  Two years ago my husband was diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer, and, after undergoing robotic surgery, he too has been given a clean bill of health.  He’s a runner and I’m an exercise freak.  We eat local organic food to the fullest extent possible, and we’ve never exactly been party animals.  Still we both got the BIG C, and had to face our mortality sooner than we’d planned.  While I no longer need to see my oncologist, I continue to work with my naturopath and energy healer, and I credit them as much as myself for my strong immune system.  Every day I touch the Earth and exclaim my wonder and gratitude for this moment, right here right now. It’s all a mystery.

In a recent interview with Maria Altobeli, for her blog, Mexicoinsmallbytes.com, she asked me to offer some tips for people undergoing cancer treatment. I hesitated to give advice, because, in my own experience, everyone’s journey through cancer – whether as a friend, healthcare provider, family member, or patient/survivor – is unique.

At the same time, I wrote Bone Marrow Boogie in part because previous cancer memoirs seemed so discouraging, and I felt I had a different story to tell.  I approached my cancer from both a conventional and complementary perspective, and I was fortunate to have practitioners who not only respected my wishes but respected one another as well. So, if you’re interested in my “to do” list, you can read that interview at Mexicoinsmallbytes.com, or in the back of Boogie.

Boogie is available free as an eBook in PDF format from Kota Press.

Boogie is on Facebook.  You can become a fan there.

There aren't many new copies of Boogie in circulation, but I love the idea of folks continuing to circulate used copies, which you can still buy at Amazon.

Janie Starr
January, 2011