The following is from my previous blog, and was originally published in July 2017. In nine days I will have finished chemotherapy. It has not been nearly what I’d feared it would be. The side effects were subtle. The nausea was fairly easily controlled with medication. I got one mouth sore, and my fingertips cracked... Continue Reading →
Hey there and happy 4/21 everybody, particularly those of you who celebrated 4/20 in the right spirit. I used to be a regular pot smoker when I was younger, but gave it up for most of the years after I became a mom, which is almost 40 years ago now. I took it up again,... Continue Reading →
It's a little over two weeks since my surgery, and I am here to report that it was a cinch! I had a DIEP Flap Reconstruction procedure, which involves replacing the breast removed in a mastectomy with a chunk of fat from the belly. Which also involves cutting through the muscles to remove blood vessels... Continue Reading →
I am so excited! Reconstructive surgery is officially set for January 17th. I am a bit apprehensive about the procedure itself. It's no short, quick fix, it's a DIEP flap reconstruction on one side and a reduction on the other, with three surgical sites, some large and complex. It involves transplanting arteries from my abdominal... Continue Reading →
Even though I am, at this moment, cancer free, I am still trudging down this road. I have one more surgery to go, and I have just this week been accepted into the active arm of a breast cancer research study. Because, being cancer free doesn't really mean you are actually cancer free. Those little... Continue Reading →
Been up since early morning hours searching breast cancer mortality rates on the internet, because suddenly last night I got it in my head that this thing is going to kill me. Well, no, I don't think it was sudden or just last night, but it was something I'd been keeping under wraps and not... Continue Reading →
October is breast cancer awareness month. That means time for people to decorate with pink ribbons, and to post obscure things on Facebook that only a chosen few know are symbolic of the fact that they are concerned about breast cancer. On the other hand, I have seen a lot of anger expressed at everything... Continue Reading →
Well now. It just occurred to me that the featured image I chose for this article is a quote from someone who died of breast cancer. Deep breath. Onward and upward. It has been ten days now since I completed my last radiation therapy treatment for breast cancer, and I am sitting here nursing some... Continue Reading →
