Those of us with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer are actively dying. Yet, death is not immediate. The median life expectancy is 2-3 years and I am meeting and hearing of more and more "outliers," those women who have lived far beyond the median and beyond. Until we know why there are outliers, the newly … Continue reading Living Life Like You’re Dying
As far as I understand it, increased metabolic activity creates higher SUV value on a PET scan. In more understandable terms, the places where there is more activity shows up brighter on the PET scan. Brighter images on the PET scan means the cancer has “woken up” or is starting to wake up; that the … Continue reading Metabolic activity
I’ve never reblogged an article written by someone else before, but Kit has put into words the frustration I’ve been feeling for a while about the hype surrounding the corona virus!👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻Warning this blog discusses secondary/metastatic/stage 4 breast cancer and the impact of living with a compromised immune system during the corona …Cancer and corona
Three (3) years ago today, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my doctor told me that two (2) to three (3) years was the median life expectancy I could expect. He did tell me that people with bone only metastasis could potentially look at a life expectancy of up to ten (10) years but … Continue reading Cancerversary #3, 2017-2020
I love 24, the TV show. Elliot and I stumbled upon it years ago when we were staying in a hotel and then we were addicted. We went back to the beginning and watched every single episode more than once. We were binge watching before we knew what that was! And so, as I often … Continue reading 24
I wrote a blog post recently that really resonated with a lot of people about how I feel about dear friends dying and how hard it really is to live with a terminal disease. Yes, despite some efforts to recast Stage IV metastatic breast Cancer as “chronic,” the rate of 116 men and women dying … Continue reading How can I help?
What is in the middle of "fine" and the whole sordid story? I confess that sometimes I verbally vomit the entire story on unsuspecting people who have innocently asked a socially acceptable question. At some point along the way, I've lost the social acceptable response ... or have I? Why do people ask how you … Continue reading How do you answer the question: “How are You?
First of all, let's look at the definition: dehumanize: de·hu·man·ize | \ (ˌ)dē-ˈhyü-mə-ˌnīz, (ˌ)dē-ˈyü- \ : to deprive (someone or something) of human qualities, personality, or dignity: such as a: to subject (someone, such as a prisoner) to conditions or treatment that are inhuman or degrading"… you treat people with respect, you get respect back. You treat them like animals, you strip search them, you dehumanize them, … Continue reading Dehumanization
Before my diagnosis of Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) in 2017, death wasn’t a concept that had been a significant part of my life experiences. I lost a few grandparents and other extended family as I aged but they were elderly and ill and they were, arguably, ready to be done with living with … Continue reading When a friend is dying
I ran across this theory early on in my experience with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer and it really resonated with me. The longer I've lived with the disease, the more it resonates with me. While I'm horrible at asking for help and often overestimate what I can handle, the kindness of some family and … Continue reading Ring Theory
No Half Measures 