The Body at a Loss

Cati Porter’s mother began chemo on July 19, 2012, Cati’s 41st birthday. Throughout the process, from diagnosis through treatment and recovery, Cati became her mother’s patient advocate, attending doctors’ visits, writing lists of questions to ask, shepherding her mother through an “inconvenient year” — a phrase coined by Cati’s mentor and friend, also a breast cancer survivor. During her mother’s recovery period, Cati receives her own medical diagnosis. These poems document in real time her experience of being diagnosed and treated for a medical condition and examine how quickly the advocate can become the patient.