truly a nightmare.

Wouldn't she have died of dehydration first?

not registering his car.

Glad to help. There’s always money in the banana stand.

She was. We were fairly close in age and our spats were legendary. She once pushed me outside in winter. I was wearing nothing but a towel at the time. She also left me tied to a tree in our backyard one time because she got a phone call, forgot that she had left me there and rode off. I could see her on her bike- and…

I have had cancer, by the way. Quickly caught skin cancer, which barely seems mentioning- except, just like early stage cervical cancer, early skin cancer can turn deadly if given a chance. Statements like “when you’re dying of cancer” kind of turn my stomach.

I am a 37-year-old feminist, but I was once a sexually-active teenager in a small town in a red state. I got over shame a while ago but it lingers. Cervical cancer and screenings are only now beginning to have awareness campaigns, thanks in part to Fran Drescher and the NCCC. We never had our color, or bracelets of…

I had an abortion when I was very young and was diagnosed with cervical cancer on my follow-up. I had no idea until you just mentioned it that pregnancy can accelerate it.

As to those saying it seems opportunistic to be so public about her illness and death, I had never heard of her either, but let me say this much -

I…

It won’t be the only thing they remember, Amanda. My husband died in 2009. He was a writer, a historian, a genealogist, and a storyteller. He was much beloved in his community. He lived for 3 years after his diagnosis. The last year was pretty tough - but that isn’t what people remember. They remember the stories he…

I hope you have and maintain all the dignity you want right now.

Yeah, idk. I was addressing the no treatment statements people were making, and how prenatal care with a pap smear would’ve made a difference. You know what? Probably not. Her cancer was probably to advanced for anything but a radical hysterectomy when she got pregnant.

As an oncologist, this family’s decision to go public with Joey’s experiences with hospice has been incredibly helpful. Half of adults in the US die within 2 weeks of being transitioned to hospice, which means that those people and their families mostly likely didn’t get any good time at the end. Joey went on hospice…

We fought like vicious animals- mostly because we were stuck in a room that was too small for one kid let alone for two. But, we also were each other’s greatest champion and when I moved a state away we became so much closer. I was the one she called when she found the lump and then as each new hurdle came crashing at…

But what about before the pregnancy? Because it sounds like pap smears prior to pregnancy and prenatal care were not done at all. Some religious sects also do a lot of fearmongering regarding basic healthcare like a pap smear. That may be what happened here.

Do you actually know anything about cervical cancer?

At minimum a two month jump on treatment. It's impossible to know where the cancer was at the beginning of her pregnancy.

I don’t know... especially these two that were supposedly her friends. They knew her before the cancer and they knew that she was not particularly religious at all and that she was the most logical and rational person in the world. (That is why I am eternally scattered. She was my True North. She kept me grounded. She…

This. My worst nightmare is to die and leave my children. How comforting it would be to believe we’ll all be together in an afterlife. Sometimes atheism is a harsh mistress.

A few things.

Must be nice to believe in Heaven.