Among the first things that my breast cancer health care team members mentioned to me is the benefit of journaling one’s experiences in living with cancer. This therapeutic exercise is comfortable and familiar. I have kept journals since 1994.

As I waited for my initial biopsy results, I began to actively journal again, having been lax with it recently. Journaling is a safe place to cry, to be angry, to vent, and to be happy as the emotions of dealing with cancer can arise from no-where and can come with great energy and force.

I am now keeping three journals: one for my oncology counselor, one about the friends who are journeying with me, and one that allows the raw emotions of cancer to surface, be expressed, and released on the bad days when I am feeling down, sad, and frustrated with a disease that I have no control over.