I'm a fan of journaling and over the years, I've done lots of it. I've mostly journaled my thoughts, feelings, and emotions, though. I'm thinking I need to start journaling my symptoms.

I'm always at a loss when I finally talk to a doctor about symptoms. "How long have you felt like this?" my doctor might say. "Oh, I don't know, maybe a few days," would be a typical response."

Once I've been sick for a few days, the timing and longevity of my symptoms just blur into one another. But they really are important and tracking them in writing can help chart the course for diagnosis, especially when it comes to disease. Take ovarian cancer. Symptoms can include bloating, pressure, even pelvic and abdominal pain, all of which may seem pretty benign if temporary. But jot them down -- be sure to include dates of occurrence -- and you may see that trends begin to surface.

I'm not sure where I was headed professionally before cancer. I knew I was happy as a stay-at-home mom, and I didn't give much thought to what might come next. I was pretty certain I would not do what I did before kids -- college administration and counseling -- and that's as far as I'd gotten in my decision-making process.

It seems cancer would have further confused my future intentions. But it didn't. Instead, it led me in a direction I may have otherwise never discovered. First, it guided me to a part-time position at my kids' preschool. Just after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation and in the midst of Herceptin breast cancer treatment, I felt a strong urge to reenter the world of the living. One day as I was dropping off my oldest child at his Pre-K class, I noticed an advertisement on the doors of the school. I inquired within -- and got a job working two afternoons per week.

The job was a blessing. I got to see my kids while I worked, interact with loving adults and children, and distract myself from the darkness of cancer.

It's been one year since I began writing for The Cancer Blog. According to statistics generated by this site, I've written 27,381 words and 793 posts. If you've been reading for this entire time, you surely know a lot about me. Not only do my posts reflect current news and issues, but they feature all sorts of personal stuff too. When considered together, my work here reflects just about every piece of my cancer journey, my inner most thoughts, my morals and values, my take on the world. But for those of you who haven't been reading for long, for those who have forgotten how I fit into the cancer puzzle, for those who want a recap, here's a rundown on me: Jacki Donaldson.

I was born and raised in Ohio but have also lived in Nevada, Virginia, and Florida -- my current home. My life always went pretty much according to plan -- I lived happily with my parents and one sister, faithfully attended school, went to college, got married, had two baby boys and a series of good jobs, and had just begun commenting to my family members about how lucky our family was not to have been affected by cancer. It seems just as I spoke this aloud, cancer arrived.

Tom Keilty of San Dimas, California lost his wife Ruth to breast cancer in 2005, 12 years after she was first diagnosed with the disease. From the very first day cancer entered their lives until the very last day of Ruth's life, the Keilty family received hundreds of hand-written notes for Ruth, filled with encouragement and support.

The notes are still arriving, this time for Keilty and his three children. The notes help strengthen this family's faith and help them grieve. The Keiltys are grateful for the trail of mail that has come their way -- and they ask others to consider writing their own their own notes of hope.

It's simple.

Just drop by a local retailer and pick up a special edition PaperMate Pink Ribbon Pen and Pink Pearl City of Hope Eraser. For each item sold through December 31, 2008, PaperMate will make a donation -- up to $200,000 -- to City of Hope for breast cancer research, education, and treatment.

Then sit down and Write for Hope in honor of someone battling breast cancer. Not only will you warm someone's heart, you will also earn the chance to win a $500 donation made in your honor to City of Hope Cancer Center.

Click here to enter.

When you are diagnosed with cancer you may experience an array of different emotions --fear, anxiety, depression, anger, worry and many others. Some cancer patients or survivors may feel alone or unable to talk to friends or family members about how they are really feeling.

Research has suggested that writing can help with the healing process after cancer. Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) is hosting a networking meeting for women affected by breast cancer called Healing with words: Writing the Breast Cancer Experience.

Alysa Cummings, MLS, CPT, of Pink Ribbon Poetry, will explain how women affected by breast cancer can use writing to heal. Attendees will hear a presentation by members of Pink Ribbon Poetry. Following the presentation, attendees can choose to share in a poetry therapy group and learn about online resources for writing their stories.

The networking meeting will be held on April 26, 2007, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Cherry Hill Library in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. A light dinner and refreshments will be available after the networking event. To register for this free event, visit LBBC's website or call the office at 610-645-4567.

It does not matter what kind of cancer you have been diagnosed with, this therapy can work for anyone, you can take advantage of writing in a journal in your own home. It can help heal your mind on so many levels. Try it out. You will be pleasantly surprised at the release it can give you.

I am headed out the door this Christmas morning -- with my husband and two little boys -- to my sister's house where our family members will gather to celebrate the spirit of the season. There will be good food and good company and good laughs -- and good gifts too. And while I have managed to create a mini wish list -- I'm liking decorative tin stars this year and I'll always take the gift of a pedicure -- there is only one gift I really want. Time.

I have been surviving breast cancer for two years. I've seen my oldest child march off to kindergarten and my youngest son grow into an independent little soul. I've seen my hair grow, my anxiety diminish, and my writing career blossom. Time is quite a gift. And I want more of it.

I want to see my kids tackle first grade and preschool. I want to further develop my writing pursuits. And I want meet my sister's new baby, due at the end of May.

I believe in my head and my heart and my gut that I have a lot more time left on this planet. But just to be safe, I'm keeping time on my wish list for as long as I can. Because all ll I really want for Christmas -- every Christmas -- is time.

I spend 10.5 hours every weekday on my own with some combination of my two little boys. My day starts each morning and extends through meals and playtime and laughs and tears and fights and struggles and snuggles -- but never a nap -- and even a part-time preschool job where one or two boys always tag along. Sometimes I try to write during the day while my boys are happy and occupied. Typically, I don't accomplish much. Interruptions are endless -- as they should be for a mostly stay-at-home mom who chooses to devote her daytime hours to raising children.

And so I go it alone until dinner time when my husband returns from work and selflessly takes over and sets me free. He cooks, serves, and cleans up dinner. He plays and entertains and wrestles and heads up bath and book time. And then he transports each boy on his back to their respective beds.

During my moments of freedom each evening, I lose myself in my thoughts -- and I begin to write. I love my mommy job -- and wouldn't trade it for any other full-time job -- but I also love being alone. And I love writing.

Helen Keller said, "I must have something besides husband and children, something I can devote myself to! I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore, I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself, and of writing, of expressing all that is within me."

Writing -- mostly about cancer -- helps me develop my surviving self. It helps me express all that is within me. And maybe it's fitting that I don't get too much time to dwell on the disease that consumed me for two years. If I had to choose between two busy boys and a life busy with cancer, I'd take two boys in an instant. At the end of the day, a little bit of writing about a little of cancer suits me just fine.

I really like the book I've recently been writing about -- The Journey Through Cancer: Healing and Transforming the Whole Person. And I plan to read more. And I plan to write more. But I'm at a standstill.

I haven't been reading lately. And I haven't been writing lately. Because life is getting in the way. And in my book, that's a good thing.

There was a time when it would have caused me great stress to have committed myself to something -- like reading a book and writing about it -- and to have somehow fallen short on completing the task. Stress would have caused me to make time for my commitment, to push other important tasks aside, to fulfill my self-imposed deadlines.

But ever since cancer arrived in my life and jolted me into the realization that I only have the pleasure of one day at a time, I am better at capitalizing on what's most important in my world -- my family.

I have been busy playing beauty shop with my son. The boy who once shaved my head prior to my chemotherapy fallout is now twisting my dark brown curls into one-of-a-kind styles. I have been hanging Christmas lights with my sister who really has done all the work for me. I have been watching my two boys play in the yard and skateboard down the driveway and create concoctions of dirt, water, and weeds on the front porch. I have been shopping for holiday gifts and finding all sorts of great buys for myself too. I have been playing with my niece and dining out with my husband and writing posts and sitting by a fire at night. I have not been reading.

I am perfectly content with my hiatus from reading and writing. Because enjoying my moments, on my preferred terms, is surely part of recovering from a illness that threatened to take all my moments away.

I'm not sure when I'll get back to Dr. Jeremy Geffen's book, when I will continue reading about his Seven Levels of Healing. Because at the moment, I am too busy healing myself.

To read previous posts on the same topic, visit:
The Journey Through Cancer: State-Of-The-Art-Medical Care
The Journey Through Cancer: Beverly Is Every One of Us
The Journey Through Cancer: What Is The Purpose Of Medicine
The Journey Through Cancer: Introduction
Sunday Seven: Seven Levels of Healing on Cancer Journey

Stay tuned for an eventual post about:
The Journey Through Cancer: Level One -- Education and Information

When I cry, I write. It makes me feel better to do something productive with my emotions, to channel my tears into something meaningful, to share my on-going journey with cancer so others may somehow benefit.

My tears started to flow after I dialed Amy's phone number this morning -- with the intention of speaking to her husband, almost two months after Amy died of breast cancer. No one answered my call, so voice mail picked up. And Amy's voice spoke to me in words something like you have reached the Wilson's. We cannot take your call. I wonder if her family has chosen to keep Amy's voice as the one that greets all callers. Or have they forgotten to change the message. Or are they stuck, unsure of what to do about this permanent reminder of Amy. Regardless, it must take time to deal with such as issue.

I left a message after Amy's voice became quiet. I recorded my own voice for her husband, told him I've been meaning to call but wanted to give him some time, that I hope he is doing alright, that he is in my thoughts every day. I wished him a Happy Thanksgiving and told him I'd try to call another day.

It was the end of my message that really choked me up -- the saying goodbye to a man I've never met who recently, suddenly had to say goodbye to his 35-year-old wife, the mother of his two small children. My goodbye was so much easier than his, and I think this is why I feel sad.

It made me happy to hear Amy's voice today, to remember her when she was alive and well and swearing she would not let cancer take her before Christmas. And it makes me happy that no one answered my call today -- because maybe it means everyone who lives in Amy's house is moving on with life, shocked as they may be that cancer took Amy weeks before Halloween.

I had no idea my one phone call would churn up so many tears. Thankfully, I have a tried and true method for dealing with them. Writing.

I am thankful. Plain and simple. I am thankful -- for these seven reasons.

One. Joey and Danny. The little boys who tore out of my body at a combined almost 21 pounds and have been tearing through life with the same screaming spirit they exhibited the very moments they entered the world. I didn't know it at the time, but these boys were delivered just in time -- for they became the angels who guided me through breast cancer. I can't even consider how I would have survived without them.

Two. Each and every member of my family who has supported me, loved me, motivated me, and comforted me during all phases of my life. The same people who really stepped to the plate when the breast cancer deck was stacked against me and I was faced with losing my life.

Three. The millions of breast cancer survivors who came before me. The women who fought, conquered, lost -- and paved the way for my own survival.

Four. My hair. It's brown. It's curly. It's nothing like the blond, straight hair I loved for 34 years -- before it was stolen by chemotherapy. But it's hair. And it's mine. And it sure beats having no hair at all.

Five. Writing. I entered college as a journalism major and somehow pursued entirely different interests. Eighteen years later, I am back to writing -- thanks to the material cancer gave me.

Six. Connections. I have collected a whole circle of friends whose faces I have never seen. Yet our shared experiences with cancer and other life-changing events have made us fast friends. Our bonds are deep, meaningful, and nothing like I've ever known.

Seven. My health. The love of my husband. My niece and borrowed little girl. Reminders of my late grandmother. Loving co-workers. The roof over my head. The food on my table. And so much more.

I am thankful. Plain and simple. I am thankful.

I love it when seven of something lands before me, offering me potential material for the Sunday Seven series. In fact, it just happened. And I can't wait to start writing about the Seven Levels of Healing common to cancer patients and those who love them.

I have a new book. It's called The Journey Through Cancer: Healing and Transforming the Whole Person by Jeremy Geffen, MD.

Dr. Geffen knows cancer. He lost his father just three months after a stomach cancer diagnosis. He became an oncologist. He founded a cancer research center. He travels and speaks and writes about health and wellness. And inside the pages of his newly revised and updated paperback, he details the Seven Levels of Healing -- a blend of conventional and complementary principles-- and the true stories of cancer patients who have directly experienced them.

It occurred to me while first flipping through this book that I might read it in its entirety and then write a review of the material. Then I determined it would take much too long for this approach. With two small children, a few jobs, an exercise routine I must revisit, and all the other bits and pieces of life that keep me occupied, this would be quite an undertaking -- the actual reading, the remembering, the writing. Somehow, this would be too much to manage. But small steps. I think I can handle small steps. So this is how it's going to work.

I will present to you in this post the Seven Levels of Healing. I don't know much about them yet -- although by title alone, I am sure I have lived most of them in my own cancer journey. So I will simply lay the groundwork. And then I will start reading. And as I read, I will write. This will be my own one-woman book club -- with an open invitation for new members. Read my posts and reflect on them. Agree. Disagree. Leave comments. Buy your own book. Read with me. Apply what you learn to your own life. Share what you learn with others. The possibilities are endless as I journey my way through this new book in search of peace, clarity, and comfort -- all of which flow from these seven levels.

Level One: Education & Information
Level Two: Connection with Others
Level Three: The Body as Garden
Level Four: Emotional Healing
Level Five: The Nature of Mind
Level Six: Life Assessment
Level Seven: The Nature of Spirit

And so that's what I have to offer for now. I'm sorry to keep you hanging. But rest assured, I am hanging right along with you, eager to find a moment to dive into this book. To sink my teeth into the words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters. To relay it all to you. I can't wait -- to really understand the Seven Levels of Healing.

Stay tuned for:
The Journey Through Cancer: Introduction

Journalist, teacher, mother and eight-year breast cancer survivor Jeanne Sather is a self-described outspoken advocate for the cancer patient's point of view.

A vegetarian since the age of 16 and fairly active, she does not have any of the known risk factors for breast cancer. After an all-clear mammogram at the age of 40, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 43. In an ironic twist of employment fate, the very job she was hired to do in chronicling her life online as a breast cancer patient, may have led to her firing because of the flexible work schedule breast cancer treatment required.

With a sharp clarity and well-earned perspective, Sather is The Assertive Cancer Patient. To our good fortune here at The Cancer Blog, she has agreed to take part in our Survivor Spotlight series featuring interviews with breast cancer survivors.

As women facing the challenges of a breast cancer diagnosis and the triumphs of living beyond breast cancer, we share our stories and ourselves in the hope that it will help other women facing the same challenges in the fight to survive breast cancer and the special issues of breast cancer survivorship.

Beginning today, and lasting through October, AOL People Connection's Think Pink! will be featuring breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship resources within a dynamic interactive online community for women to learn about breast cancer, share their breast cancer story and make connections with other breast cancer survivors.

When you visit Think Pink! you will discover a blog featuring personal stories of breast cancer survivors told in their own words; a gallery of inspirational photos submitted by women going through breast cancer treatment and women who are living beyond breast cancer; articles and educational information about breast cancer; special profiles of breast cancer survivors; shop for a cause pink products; how to join a letter writing campaign to increase federal funding for breast cancer research and enhance the involvement and influence of trained breast cancer consumer advocates in all aspects of breast cancer policy and research; sign up for a breast check monthly reminder; learn about ongoing breast cancer events; and more.

While there, you are invited to share your story, submit a photo, start your own blog or create an AIM page.

I was busy during my treatment for breast cancer -- really busy. My two little boys kept me in an always-moving, rarely-resting state and while I sometimes felt desperate for a little down time, I am mostly thankful for the crazy pace that kept me focused, kept me occupied, kept me distracted. Staying busy helped pass the time during a phase of my life when moments could crawl at a snail's pace.

According to the Sun newspaper, Kylie Minogue searched for something to keep her occupied during her own breast cancer treatment. What she found -- writing -- has turned her into an author. Minogue's new children's book -- Kylie: The Showgirl Princess -- which she created with her partner Olivier Martinez, kept her mind off her treatments and on the future. And the future she set her sights on during treatment has almost arrived as Minogue's book is set for release this week. Her book, that includes artwork sent to her after her diagnosis from children all over the world, will be on shelves in London today.

I really do believe deep down in my gut that I will survive breast cancer -- that I will witness the wonder of my children growing up, that I will be married long enough that the years blur together, that I will live to a ripe old age. But I still have moments of doubt -- moments powerful enough to make me think I should not have a third child, just in case cancer comes back. To combat these moments -- that seem to surface more now that my treatment has stopped -- I try to keep busy, keep my mind occupied, keep living. My steps for surviving in the short-term include writing, journaling, exercising, relaxing, and spending time with family. But I also follow some steps for long-term survival -- steps that transcend the moment and give me purpose and direction. And here are seven of them.