It's my birthday.

As is starting to become ritual, I am giving myself the gift of being seen.

I've had to do this before. This feels especially fraught with peril now, in our year 2026, on the public Internet.

But recent events are reminding me that there's more to be gained from doing so than not; to make the effort; and to believe in my own resilience. That recent event is the death of Raul Pacheco-Vega. (I will write more about that in a different, forthcoming blog post.)

What is true for me, right now:

  • I was diagnosed with a rare cancer in early 2026, for which I underwent surgery in May 2026. It's mostly localized and not spread, and I experienced almost no symptoms at the time it was diagnosis.

  • As of the end of August 2026, I am receiving chemotherapy, to prevent recurrence of the cancer. This will be my daily reality until mid-November.

  • This means I am presently immunocompromised, and needing to take all the precautions to both cope with the chemo side effects and avoid injury and infection, including respiratory illness.

But.

As much as it seems like it some days, it's not all that's going on for me.

  • I've travelled. I recently spent three weeks in Europe where I got to see lots of new places and incredible things, reconnect and share special moments with family, eat lots of great food and spend time with my partner. (Despite our best attempts, the full solar eclipse was not one of the things we saw... though I would definitely say we still experienced it!)

  • I'm still enjoying the season. Dry weather is holding in Vancouver as autumn is rolling in. This is my favourite time of year. So I am taking full advantage of events like the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival; riding my bike on the weeks I can; and masking up to do things like take in movies at the Vancouver International Film Festival. My community supported agriculture box continues to keep me busy with delectable and delicious food.

  • My work continues to be meaningful and impactful. It is not without its stresses. But I am incredibly grateful for the generosity, positivity and support of my co-workers.

I'm making peace with not always doing as much as I feel I should; and letting myself feel good about what I'm still able to do.

A shoreline at a beach in northern Spain in August 2026, blue sky dotted with clouds.

Support My Birthday Fundraiser

One of the things I am doing as part of my birthday observance is raising funds, for two things in particular:

  1. 1.

    I'll be participating in the Canada Walks for Bladder Cancer event taking place at Science World on September 19th. Please consider making a donation at my fundraising page, or consider sharing it in your social network.

  2. 2.

    Please consider donating to ShelterBox's campaign to provide emergency shelters for those displaced in the recent climate change-induced flash floods in Nepal.

I know this begs the question: Do I have bladder cancer?

Short answer: no. But, in a manner of speaking: it abuts the same access road in the subdivision. (A technical appendix is available upon request, if you interested in more detail.)

This is the tone I'm setting for the year to come: radical translucency; writing again; balancing being present to the good in my life with being accessible; and being glad for what I've accomplished instead of what I've fallen short on.

Karen's birthday lunch: Portuguese sardines on toasted rye, tomato, topped with fig goat cheese and endive frisée.

My birthday lunch, featuring canned sardines I brought back from Porto. There are exactly 4 cans, which nicely matches the 4 cycles.

A song selection

Here is my most recent musical obsession: A Love Story by Sara Bareilles, from her recent album Good Grief. I didn't realize until after I started reading about the album, that she had also worked on Come See Me In the Good Light, the documentary about queer poet Andrea Gibson (who is featured performing a poem in this song.) Very much the mind-space I am trying to inhabit.

There is so much to celebrate. And, with luck, much more to come.