5 years ago today I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer. It seems both a billion years ago and like yesterday. As time has passed some of the details have started to fade. I can’t remember the names of certain tests or drugs, the post-op rules or even the names of important players….
Tag: #mastectomy
Our Renaissance
In July there was an article in The New Yorker by Lawrence Wright about the new phenomenon of art and culture in Renaissance Italy. It arose from the ashes of the horrific ‘Black Death’ plague in the Middle Ages. Let me reiterate that– we needed THE PLAGUE to grow the artistic bounty of our pals…
Quarantine Tips From a Cancer Survivor
Quarantine. It is the hottest topic of 2020. It is so now. It is creating so much buzz. Everyone is doing it. (fire emoji, fire emoji). Not all trends are good ones. Remember Hammer pants and over-plucked eyebrows? Quarantine is most certainly one of the worst trends I can think of in recent history. Maybe only feathered…
North Korea, South China Sea, Breast Cancer
What would you think, if you recently had chemotherapy as a breast cancer treatment and you woke up to these headlines? Allow me to tell you what I thought. FUUUUCCCKKKKKK. I mean, yeah science!, but also, (mad face). Upon reading the many articles and trying to digest the evidence-based conclusions, I felt some unexpected reactions….
Transparent
About a week after my final chemo, I was contacted by a filmmaker named Rachel Pikelny. She was looking for someone to follow as a documentary film subject, someone who was finishing active treatment for breast cancer and moving on to what so many refer to as, ‘life back to normal’. The rest is history….
Scare
I saw my oncologist last week for a check-up. These visits are pretty uneventful these days which is the way you want your oncology appointments. They draw my blood from my one available arm, take my blood pressure, temperature and weigh me. Next I am told to change into a gown and I park it…
Things I Learned About My Post-Cancer Body on a Beach Vacation
I just returned from the vacation of a lifetime. My husband and I went to, wait for it… Bora Bora for 8 days! The best way I can describe Bora Bora, Tahiti and French Polynesia, in general, is that I truly can’t believe that it exists on the same planet on which the rest of…
The Wall
It’s happening right now. I reached the place I have heard about from so many who came before me. I hit the post-treatment wall. I will tell you about what happened, but note that the trigger is somewhat irrelevant. It doesn’t really matter what makes you hit the wall, it just matters that it happened….
Commencement
Today I had my 6 week follow-up with my plastic surgeon, post-reconstruction surgery. I had a whole list of questions like, do I still have to wear a bra around the clock, can I sleep on my stomach, etc. Very early on in my speech, Dr. Sisco stopped me and said, ‘Grace, this is it. You…
Your Friendly Local Cancerlebrity
A funny thing has started to happen. About once or twice a week, I will get recognized while I am out and about. Now let me clarify, I am just your average minivan driving, yoga pant wearing suburban mom, but since I have plastered my face on an overwhelmingly candid blog, people have started to…
Aesthetics and Athletics
For those of you who haven’t read every word of every blog I’ve written, allow me to tell you that the t-shirt I am wearing in the above photo is a professional photo of my God-given breasts. I had t-shirts made of my breasts for all of my family to wear to my mastectomy cause…
Lymphedon’t
I had my long awaited appointment with the lymph specialist doctor this week. Shocker alert! I have been officially diagnosed with mild lymphedema. The great (read: horrendous) news is that this is a life-long condition. I will be worried about my arm swelling for the REST OF MY LIFE. Thank you breast cancer. You are the…
