Her Cancer Diagnosis Came Amid Mammogram Tweets

Xeni Jardin, a co-founder of the Boing Boing website, had her first mammogram on Dec. 1, and she live-tweeted the whole process, as noted by Jezebel at the time. Jardin stunned her fans, however, when the results came in later that day: "I have breast cancer. I am in good hands. There is a long road ahead and it leads to happiness and a cancer-free, long, healthy life."

Today, Jardin takes to Boing Boing to write of the diagnosis and what lies ahead, at one point likening the experience to being on a "cold planet" where the gravity is different. "The thing about this thing, or, at least, this first week of this thing, is how it takes you out there to the cold planet again and again and again, when you aren't expecting it," she writes. "Long, undulating waves of fear pull you out to where you are alone and unreachable, even by words sent from the strongest satellite. The thing that brings you back is love." The full column is well worth reading here. (More Xeni Jardin stories.)