The Story of one Woman’s Relentless Lust for Life
Story by Karen Tinsley
Photography courtesy of John Costa
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, you already know how many questions haunt your mind at all hours of the day and night. Some people think nothing of asking questions, telling stories and spreading well-meaning (but often inaccurate) information. Scrolling the internet can also send someone plunging down a disturbing rabbit hole.
But here’s a book that doesn’t sugarcoat or pull any punches. Fighting cancer really is a battle, and ‘Teacup Half Full’ paints a truthful, acute portrait of thousands of hours spent driving from Windsor to London to Toronto and back again (usually all on the same day), for consultations, diagnostic tests, grueling treatments and clinical trials.
Keeping loved ones in the loop can often fall to the bottom of a long and complex To Do list.
The day that 52-year-old Lisa Costa was diagnosed with aggressive Stage 4 cancer, her husband John began a blog.
The primary purpose of the blog was to share, with a robust posse of caring friends and family, the most current information about Lisa’s medical merry-go-round: how she was feeling, what was happening next plus happy, intimate details about all the fun John and his ‘Diva’ (his pet nickname for Lisa) had along the way: from long drives in the country to thrift store expeditions; from camping trips all over the Golden Horseshoe in Lisa’s ‘snail’ (her affectionate term for their fully tricked out camper) to their beloved waterfront summer retreat on the French River; to the occasional trips to Dairy Queen for a Peanut Buster Parfait, Lisa’s most coveted treat after a tough day of chemotherapy.
Teacup Half Full is a compilation of John’s blog posts chronicling the four-year journey from Lisa’s initial cancer diagnosis until her death in 2022. Written in John’s candid, persistent and positive prose, the book is beautifully bound and chock-full of love, devotion, details and images that will make you smile. By the time you finish reading, you will feel like you too, are part of Lisa’s large posse.
Married and madly in love for more than 30 years, John and Lisa built a wonderful life in LaSalle, raising their three children. Their cherished home included a verdant garden full of leafy trees, vibrant flowers, exotic plants and a swimming pool (which Lisa loved more than anything). Lisa was an ardent gardener born with two green thumbs; every spring she transformed the big Costa backyard into a magazine-worthy oasis. May was one of Lisa’s favourite months to plan, plot and plant with passion.
Lisa lived life with an abundance of passion for almost everything, but thrifting was one of her most passion-filled pastimes. Discovering fine china (teacups in particular) thoroughly delighted her. Throughout the book, John is fond of saying that Lisa always ‘viewed her life with the cup half full’, which not only inspired him and many others to look at things from her positive perspective but also inspired the book’s title.
In his introduction, John shares that he never intended to publish his blog posts. He is also frank about the self-described ‘long and redundant’ narrative; he never dreamed that one day, the blog would blossom into a book.
“I’m not a writer,” John confides, “but it was imperative for me to manage all communication between Lisa and her posse” during her illness. Creating the blog was one of the first things John did to fulfill his mandate as Lisa’s ‘loyal tour manager’.
Just as every individual’s cancer journey is unique, so are the ways in which families move forward. For the Costas, Lisa’s only job was to focus all her energies on getting better. John’s considerably more expansive job was to focus on ‘everything else’. In their full and busy lives, that really did mean everything else; while John and Lisa’s children, family and friends helped out whenever they were needed, the couple, by their own choice, managed the lion’s share of their journey all on their own, just the two of them, without one word of complaint. Whether it was trekking up the 401 in the wee hours of the morning and back in bad weather, or waiting, worrying, wondering or crying over disappointing developments, John and Lisa had each other’s backs.
John felt strongly that Lisa had to fully focus on her recovery; for Lisa to do that, it meant not talking about her cancer in any way, shape or form. “She simply did not want to talk about it; the blog ensured that people stayed informed, while Lisa was free to expound about any and every other subject under the sun. The blog kept those who needed to know fully informed without having to ‘go there’ with Lisa directly.
“Everyone is different of course,” John explains, “but I was a real ‘Papa Bear’ with our friends and loved ones about not talking to Lisa about her cancer, no matter what. Throughout the book, you will find my constant pleas imploring readers not to bother Lisa with any of the details I so openly shared. I also offered to answer any questions anyone had about anything, anytime. The blog really helped to keep the topic off the table, which is what Lisa wanted, and what helped me fulfill my mandate as her loyal ‘tour manager’.”
When asked why he did decide to publish after all, John responds, “So many people encouraged me to do it. Many believed publishing it would help others navigate their own cancer journeys. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that publishing would not only mean keeping Lisa’s memory alive and leaving a lasting legacy for our family; it would also mean that anyone who read the book would fall in love with Lisa just like I did all those years ago.”
At more than 500 pages, Teacup Half Full is overflowing with love, courage, determination and hope. Enduring more than 80 rounds of chemo in four short years, Lisa faced her illness with fearless, brute force. She fought with all her might to squeeze every last drop out of life. Her story will inspire anyone who reads it.
Teacup Half Full is available for purchase on Amazon.ca. The book is priced with zero profit.
Publisher in the Your Place or Mine? 2025 Edition
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