Your children can make you cry, they just can, whether they mean to or not, and sometimes they really mean to. Teenagers can be particularly harsh; I have a friend who says sometimes teenagers are just not good people.
I have two teenagers at 16 and 19 and a post-teenager at 21. But any therapist [...]
Why anyone gets cancer knows it is a complicated formula of genetics plus environment plus fate plus who knows what, maybe the perfume my mother wore when she was pregnant or the weed killer my father spread on the backyard lawn.
Dr. Lauren Streicher has been my gynecologist for 17 years; she delivered Colin. In October 2006, I was diagnosed with breast cancer from a routine mammogram given by my radiologist, Dr. Joan Werber. She and Dr. Streicher are friends as well as colleagues. Hours after I was scheduled for a biopsy, Dr. Streicher called me at home to reassure me I would be fine. After surgery and radiation, I was fine. In December 2007, following disturbing elevated counts on two PSA tests, Dr. Streicher operated on me to remove my ovaries, for fear of ovarian cancer. Luckily, I did not have ovarian cancer. Dr. Streicher talks here about the kind of rapport she has with her patients and why. You will see precisely why I trust her with my life.
“I am not God,” Dr. Dowlat said as I pulled the green print open-fronted gown closed. “But you will be fine.”
Today was my semi-annual appointment with the breast surgeon who excised my cancer and oversaw my recovery beginning three years ago. He is kind, reassuring and most importantly, a seasoned surgeon. I trust him with my life. Because he saved it.
I’m not crazy about October, used to be, but not so much the last three years. I had been crazy about it because it is the month of my mother’s birthday—her birthday is October 25, she was a Scorpio. She would be 85 this year, but we celebrated her last birthday in 2002. She was [...]
You couldn’t say I am a hyper fan because I am living out my own athleticism through my sons; I am amazed by their fitness and competitive verve, awed by their strength and agility. It is foreign to me, quite separate from who I am and who I ever wanted to be. It is completely unrelated to my youth of occasional swimming, hopscotch and excessive jump roping.
Do you know how much your child weighs down to the ounce? Do you avoid making eye contact with your child after he or she loses a match until your child approaches you? Do you find yourself wearing the school colors every day whether or not you are attending a meet or tournament?
Then you're a WMD. A Wrestling Mom or Dad.
And we'd love to hear your stories. Submit a guest column, a few photos, videos, or comments and we will publish them on the site.
breast cancer
brendan
brothers
cancer
coach
coaches
coaching
Coach Powell
colin
Colin Rogers
high school
High school wrestling
making weight
mike powell
mom
Northwestern
oak park
Oak Park-River Forest High School
photos
powell
recovery
river forest
slideshow
tournament
training
winning
wrestling
Wrestling Family
wrestling mom
Youth Wrestling
