Never thought I'd want to be a breast cancer survivor
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What does it mean to be a survivor? … I am a warrior!
Read more: What does it mean to be a survivor? … I am a warrior!Today I found myself seeking out definitions of cancer survivor. In my context, I don’t know what it means to be a survivor. I certainly am a cancer warrior – I’m in treatment, I am living each day – but what does it mean to survive? Some definitions involve the time after treatment, when you…
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Cumulative effects
Read more: Cumulative effectsYesterday, I was reminded of the cumulative effects of chemotherapy. I was remembering day four from last cycle, and thought that I would just bounce back after day three – unfortunately, the bouncing back didn’t happened quite as much as I’d hoped. I actually ended up overdoing it a bit yesterday (oops). I now have on…
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Early morning walks
Read more: Early morning walksOne advantage to being wide awake at 5am is the ability to go out for a walk before the sun rises. Early morning walks mean I don’t need to cover my head or arms – I can walk and enjoy the feel of the light breeze against my skin. This morning, I walked with Scott…
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Recommended reading
Read more: Recommended readingKelley Doyle Philbin writes an elegant post entitled “EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW IN LIFE I LEARNED WHEN I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER!” that I highly recommend. I found a lot of her words resonated – both with my experience and with the experiences that others have shared with me during various support groups…
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Day 3 is just plain hard
Read more: Day 3 is just plain hardToday is day 3 and it is a hard day. It was a hard day last cycle too. I am thankful that there will only be two more cycles of AC and that means only two more day threes. Why is day three so hard? The neulasta pains are crazy. It isn’t a new kind…
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Breast cancer, chemotherapy, and sexuality
Read more: Breast cancer, chemotherapy, and sexualityA question that comes up on various breast cancer online communities relates to sex and breast cancer – and more specifically sex and chemotherapy. I have been fortunate, in that several years ago, both my husband and I were trained as Adult Our Whole Lives (OWL) Sexuality educators. I have also been trained to lead…
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Seriousness is sinking in
Read more: Seriousness is sinking inI’m starting to shed my hair. I noticed at first when I use the toilet, and then again when I dried my hair after the shower – seeing enough bits of hair in the towel that I had to throw it in the wash! At Wednesday’s oncologist appointment, when I asked about surgery timing, specifying…
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A busy day with a trip to the DMV
Read more: A busy day with a trip to the DMVI have needed to go to the DMV for a while. I want to apply for my California driver’s license, but also want to get a California ID, in case I cannot get the driving test in a timely fashion. Yesterday at my oncologist appointment, I asked about getting a disabled parking permit (which allows us…
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2nd Round of Chemo
Read more: 2nd Round of ChemoToday was my second round of chemo. It was actually much less traumatic than I expected it to be. It really helped that someone in the BC Connections Facebook group commented that her second round went a lot better than the first – so rather than hearing horror stories about the second round, I am…
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Preparing for neuropathy
Read more: Preparing for neuropathyI have been thinking about neuropathy a bit lately – in part because several strong women in my support groups have been having neuropathy – specifically with the Taxol chemo. I’m currently on AC chemo, but when that is finished, I do 12 weeks of taxol. Neuropathy is one of the potential side effects. It…
