by Joe Birch | Jan 9, 2025 | Blessings from Nature
Despite the devastating wildfires that have decimated Pacific Palisades and other numerous locations around Los Angeles, I awoke to a beautiful sunrise, the return of our birds, the signs in nature that say, “God is with us,” and a little Token of Love...
by Joe Birch | Dec 27, 2024 | Blessings from Nature
Holidays are meant to be joyful, but for many people, they are not.While many families have the potential to gather together, many times, for many reasons they do not.As we yearn for love, hugs, being with family, there is the potentialwe will be let down, hurt by...
by Joe Birch | Dec 27, 2024 | Developing Healthy Relationships
On this Holy Day I want to share our special Holy Family.They have been with me since I moved into my house in 2003. I bought the beige sculptures and lovingly painted each one and made special clothing for them. My beloved Australian Shepherd was at my side and we...
by Joe Birch | Dec 18, 2024 | Finding and Nurturing Your Spirit
Two years ago, I made a comment in a LinkedIn post: “I’ve never been the kind of person to give myself a Birthday party and I always admired people who did.” I was way too shy to ever do it for myself. I was amazed when 200 people viewed that post and gave me support....
by Joe Birch | Dec 11, 2024 | Finding and Nurturing Your Spirit
Dealing with the holidays when you are a cancer patient in active treatment can be daunting. The same is true for others in active treatment or hospitalization during the holidays. I am pleased to share this video narrated by a Medical Social Worker at City of Hope....
by Joe Birch | Dec 10, 2024 | Understanding and Treating Anxiety
Most of my current Followers on LinkedIn, YouTube, and my HolisticCancerRecoveryHub.com website know me as Judith Anne Desjardins Pancreatic Warrior Maiden. Others know me as being an author and publisher of 2 multi-award-winning books: Creating A Healthy Life and...
by Joe Birch | Nov 25, 2024 | The Battle with Cancer
Death to the cancer protagonist A sensor in the cancer cell illuminates upon impact, providing real-time data to help improve treatmentsThe cancer cell contains a sensor that lights up when it is attacked by the T-cell. This remarkable video clip (credit goes to...
by Joe Birch | Nov 15, 2024 | The Battle with Cancer
I will be sharing some writing from my journal this morning that explains the differences between my first chemotherapy Gemsar, which I took from Jan – June 2021, and this new type of chemotherapy pills.For me, this experience is life-changing and so perfect for...
by Joe Birch | Nov 15, 2024 | Blessings from Nature
Dealing with New Treatment Decisions can be overwhelming. There are so many factors to consider:What is the status of my current cancer?What are the characteristics of this chemotherapy in terms of how it interacts with my cancer?How toxic is this chemotherapy?What...
by Joe Birch | Oct 30, 2024 | The Battle with Cancer
In the long trajectory of “Living with Cancer” there are so many twists and turns, ups and downs, surprises and disappointments, laughter and tears, stress and joy, unexpected good news, discouraging test results – it’s like being swept up with the ever changing...
by Joe Birch | Oct 10, 2024 | The Battle with Cancer
Let me begin by saying it’s a miracle that I am alive today. This is my 4-year Anniversary! Pancreatic cancer is notorious for its high mortality rate. It is often not detected until patients are an advanced Stage 4, with few warning symptoms. It is an extremely...
by Joe Birch | Sep 18, 2024 | The Battle with Cancer
In this video you will see me working hard to restore my back garden – which had overgrown passion fruit vines and fig tree, wooden planter boxes filled with hard, poor soil, and a network of stubborn, tough vines that I needed to remove. I use this work in the...
by Joe Birch | Sep 11, 2024 | The Battle with Cancer
Next month I will be living with Pancreatic cancer for 4-years. To get to this point, I have endured a Distal Pancreatectomy in October 23, 2020, which removed 40% of my Pancreas, my entire Spleen, 8 lymph nodes; 6-months of the chemotherapy Gemsar from January...
by Joe Birch | Aug 29, 2024 | Finding and Nurturing Your Spirit
After a 6am walk around our wild property, breakfast on our Inner Patio is the morning ritual for me and Hopie. We pray, we eat slowly, we thank God for this new day, we sit in the quiet and listen to the greetings from our birds – who make a joyful chatter. We...
by Joe Birch | Aug 14, 2024 | Blessings from Nature
In my 4-year journey with Stage 4 Pancreatic cancer, he has been my nurse – tending to me after surgery, chemotherapy, Ablation and Cryoablation, side effects of treatment. He has been my therapist when I was caught in a 4-month cycle of Anxiety and FEAR of...
