Rhymes With Bucket List
We all know what a bucket list is. It is the concept of creating a list of things you would love to accomplish before you die, aka, kick the bucket. It is usually a list of very aspirational things like, go on a safari, write a novel, stay in a hut over the ocean… Based on…
36, Again
My birthday is this week. My 36th birthday last year was somber. I was 2 weeks out from diagnosis and 2 weeks away from my bi-lateral mastectomy. Though I was in somewhat of an ‘ignorance is bliss’ phase, it was still a sobering birthday. We all know how my 36th year went down. It was…
Hocus Pocus Diagnosis
The Magic Trick Set up: Seemingly healthy 35 year old woman Slight of hand: Random bi-lateral lactation leading to mammogram and biopsy Show of cards: Cancer One year ago today I was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the breast. I didn’t see it coming. I had had a biopsy, as a mammogram had shown…
The Blog Barrier
Once this blog started picking up steam last summer, I was awarded a freedom I didn’t know I craved. I will call it ‘public seclusion.’ Public seclusion is the ability to disseminate information without any personal contact at all. I can share my deepest feelings and most private physical evolutions and reach thousands of women…
Secret Film Project Revealed
http://www.siskeljacobs.com/grace/ Remember when I hinted I may be involved in a film production? Well, the time is now, to introduce ‘Grace.’ I am beyond proud to be the subject of this short-form documentary film produced and directed by a young survivor herself, Rachel Pikelny. The film started production as I was finishing chemotherapy in September…
Lymphedema- The Gift That Keeps on Giving
About a month and a half ago, I noticed that my right thumb was swollen. Hmmmm, that is odd. I definitely did not injure it. Maybe it will be back to normal tomorrow. It wasn’t. It started to hurt it was so swollen. I was compensating for all kinds of opposable thumb activities. At a…
What’s Under My Hood?
Today is my 6 month anniversary of finishing chemotherapy. It doesn’t seem accurate because the effects of the treatment go on for so long after your last infusion. I would say that I have felt free of the poison for about 2-3 months. It took that long for my fingernails to stop being wavy and…
A Hair Day
I am already laughing at the really bad joke I am about to tell. I really do entertain myself. I think I could be okay in a locked, padded room for a few days. It might feel like a vacation. Anyway, here goes. I am having a hair day! Not a good hair day, not…
Statistics Schmatistics
Statistics are stupid. Seriously, what do statistics even mean if you are the unlucky sucker in the minority? Example: When I had my mammogram at 35 years old last year, here is what the radiologist said: “I see something, but it is probably nothing. I am going to say that there is an 80% chance…
On Masochism
I have always, for as long as I can remember, been a bit of a glutton for punishment. As an adult, I learned of the term ‘masochism’ and knew I had that affliction. Now get your minds out of the gutter, people, I’m not talking freaky-deaky stuff here, I am talking the concept of lightly…
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