# Five Incursions

**Five incursions into my abdominal cavity have netted me the following: confirmation of a cancer-free colon, excision of a tumorous cervical cyst, removal of a poorly effusing gall bladder, and delivery of a baby girl, followed four years later by a baby boy.**

## Memoir Land

[Memoir Land](https://memoirland.substack.com)

All things memoir and personal essays! Four verticals: "Memoir Monday" weekly roundup of best essays; "First Person Singular" original personal essays; "The Lit Lab" interviews and craft essays; and "Goodbye to All That" featuring NYC stories.

Diana Friedman wrote:  
> For the longest time placing a piece in the NY Times was my moonshot goal, and then I started following [Sari Botton](https://substack.com/profile/238336-sari-botton) and her work with [Oldster Magazine](https://substack.com/profile/86606288-oldster-magazine) and [Memoir Land](https://substack.com/profile/1099676-memoir-land) and realize I’d much rather land in her ecosystem where the essays are always thought-provoking and well-written, and the comments feel like community. Thank you Sari, today my bucket list just got a little shorter! Thanks also to [Amy Shearn](https://substack.com/profile/1155713-amy-shearn) for her eyes on this essay!

**“Carol and I are quite competitive, and when I told her that I received four incisions for my gall bladder removal, a few weeks after her surgery, she announced, “I win!” No question—in the upper abdominal zone she’s got me beat in the scar count. However, she can’t match the long pink Frankenstein stitch above my pubic bone. Because wha…**

[Read More](https://memoirland.substack.com/p/five-incursions)