Author: calliemm

Callie Maddalena-Maloney is a mum, sister, daughter, aunt and friend. She is a business owner, a writer of stories and a widow. Callie's husband Brendan was diagnosed with Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma in June 2014. He died in 2017. He was 45 years old. Callie reshares their story here, and her story, as she navigates life without Brendan. You may also like: https://www.cyradai.com/ https://www.kalicolife.com/ https://www.instagram.com/cyraanddai/ https://www.instagram.com/kalicolife/

twenty one

Standing in the shower, I let the hot jets of steaming water wash over me. I could hear Bren playing his guitar from where he was sitting at the foot of our bed.

twenty

Mood swings are among the side effects of his medication. And although they aren’t that noticeable to us — he is struggling with them

nineteen

“OK you get to keep your arm this time!” Reg says, smiling cheekily.

eighteen

Taya finds us and speed walks us to the cancer hospital for a CT scan. We find out later that Bren shouldn’t be walking anywhere without crutches.

seventeen

The last thing you want to hear your husband say to the doctor on the other end of the phone when getting his biopsy results is “fuck!”

Muscle Memory

My body aches, my head aches, my heart aches. I can be moody and not much fun to be around. This all feels involuntary.

Busy

Thank you for the messages — and for reading along with us. Increasing awareness of Sarcoma, a rare cancer, through telling his story and our families was important to Bren.