Author: Abigail Johnston

I'm a daughter, a wife, a mother, and I've been living with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer since March, 2017. All of the words I publish are my own.

Terminal?

Recently, when a friend shared a post I’d written for AdvancedBreastCancer.net on social media, there were a few rather strident responses arguing that Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) isn’t terminal because that label only applies when a medical professional certifies that a person has six (6) months or less to live or when someone … Continue reading Terminal? →

Mutations become Targets

A little while ago, I wrote a post for SurvivingBreastCancer.org about genetic and genomic mutations, exploring some of the information we learned about my original breast tumor in 2017 and highlighting the differences between genetic and genomic testing. You can access that article here. As an aside SBC is a great resource for those newly … Continue reading Mutations become Targets →

Which Hat: Advocate or Activist?

I was reading some articles recently and came across some discussion about the difference between the titles of "advocate" versus "activist." It stuck out to me since I've often described myself as an advocate throughout my career as a lawyer and more recently, as a patient advocate. And yet, I'm realizing that advocate doesn't wholly … Continue reading Which Hat: Advocate or Activist? →

Receptors

When I was initially diagnosed and joined some online support groups, I discovered a whole new short-hand utilized by patients and medical professionals to describe the different subtypes of breast cancer. At first, these letters and symbols were quite intimidating and it took me some time to get comfortable and familiar with utilizing and interpreting … Continue reading Receptors →

Caregivers

We talk a fair amount about the people in our lives who we look to for support/care in the online MBC support groups. Yes, there's a fair amount of kvetching about the stressors or disappointments because no relationship is perfect; at the same time, I see many more posts laced with love and concern for … Continue reading Caregivers →

10 days after IV Chemo and an MRI

Ten days ago, on 2/4, I started a combination of medication and it’s been a struggle to do anything for the last ten days. I think the fact that everything started all at once made a difference and that it’s been nearly 5 years since I last had IV chemo. With all the oral therapy … Continue reading 10 days after IV Chemo and an MRI →

Things that make you scratch your head …

Transcript of an actual phone call … Me: hello? Caller: calling from specialty pharmacy and after we verify my identity … I’m calling to help you refill your prescription of Xeloda since you are due to receive it. Do you want to pick it up or have it delivered? Me: ok, great, I’ll be at … Continue reading Things that make you scratch your head … →

Saying Goodbye …

I'm not saying goodbye to you all now, I was just thinking about a quote I heard recently. I was catching up on all things Criminal Minds, the original, in preparation for watching the final season (not sure how I feel about that) and one of the quotes for an episode was shared like this … Continue reading Saying Goodbye … →

Heading into Chemo

Tomorrow I will start the IV chemo, Taxotere, along with the oral medication, Xeloda. This combination is designed to work together and gives my medical oncologist some flexibility. While I get the need to get ahead of the cancer cells that were not materially affected by my last line of treatment, the knowledge that I … Continue reading Heading into Chemo →

Painful expectations

As most of you are aware, I ask a lot of questions in order to set my expectations whenever I start a new treatment or have a procedure and I highly recommend doing this. Whatever the answer, I set my expectations and prepare for whatever I’m told. That might mean how I schedule the days … Continue reading Painful expectations →