On Tuesday we had our official meeting with the dietician about celiac disease. The meeting itself wasn’t particularly insightful – but we went into it well informed to begin with. I didn’t really know what to expect. The dietician was friendly and she did ask us some questions and told us a few things. In…
I don’t often follow celebrity experiences with breast cancer. For the most part, they annoy me. They try too much to simplify the experience into a single message – often one that is overly simple, not accounting for the complexities of the disease and the women who have to face it. It was with this…
You would think that given the prevalence of celiac disease, and that it is a known allergen, that medications that contain gluten would need to somehow label that fact. You’d think. You’d be wrong. As far as I can tell, this is a problem in the US. I don’t think it is nearly the same…
I am so excited … I got an email the other day saying that I have been accepted to the January 3-9 Winter Epic Experience camp. It is all a little crazy, but also really exciting. The winter camp activities include cross country skiing and snow shoeing. Prior to cancer I was an avid cross…
I wasn’t considered to be at high risk for breast cancer, and yet I got it. I also wasn’t considered to be at high risk for lymphedema, and I have it too. I was high risk for celiac disease, so that diagnosis, although kind of sucky, isn’t too much of a surprise. I’m now hoping…
November is writing month. Before I started my PhD, I participated in NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. I sat down every morning and wrote stories relating to our Going East trip. The process itself was rewarding, but I have yet to go back to that writing and turn it into anything. Every November, I…
This time last year I was celebrating the end of chemo – although I wasn’t completely certain that the chemo was done. When I look back, I think about how optimistic I was about my recovery. I anticipated a week of worsening symptoms from chemo and then things magically getting better. I expected that my…
It is October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month – and with that comes pink ribbons, but also a lot of blog posts and public information announcements about breast cancer. It is at this time that the American Cancer Society (ACS) announced new breast screening guidelines. The detailed recommendations are available here: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2463262. What has me perplexed…
Ever wonder why, if one in eight women are at lifetime risk of getting breast cancer, that you don’t know that many women with breast cancer? Unless, of course you are a survivor yourself, or have a family history of breast cancer – in that case, you probably know a disproportionate number of women who…
When can I stop poisoning myself? The short answer to that question is today! When I first tested positive for the anti-bodies (IgA Anti TTG) that indicated that a celiac diagnosis was “highly probable”, I did the research and decided to stop eating gluten. I had a two month wait to see the celiac specialist.…
