I have bone only Mets and I was initially diagnosed as stage 2 in March of 2017. We made treatment decisions based on that information, but in June of 2017, we discovered that I'd actually been Stage IV from the beginning and probably for quite a while before I felt the lump myself. My cancer … Continue reading Breast Cancer Facts, 10/2
Category: Advocacy
Breast Cancer Facts, 10/1
I'm still astonished at how little people understand about cancer. Just last week, I had to explain yet again that stage IV is the terminal stage, that there is no coming back, there is no cure. Once breast cancer has left the breast and metastasized to another organ, then ones time on this earth has … Continue reading Breast Cancer Facts, 10/1
Funding a Cure
Those of you who read my blog know that I'm living with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Before my diagnosis, even though my mom is a survivor of breast cancer, I was astonishingly ignorant about breast cancer and trials and drugs and so many things that now occupy my entire life. I look back and … Continue reading Funding a Cure
Why I’m not participating in “awareness” this October
Since I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2017, I've participated in quite a few events. Sometimes those events were to raise money, some were just for those of us who have breast cancer. At first, I was not sure what was best and I accepted invitations to just about anything. There's also the … Continue reading Why I’m not participating in “awareness” this October
Palliative Care
Palliative care is something I never knew anything about until my terminal diagnosis. Why would I? It's not something that is common knowledge or commonly needed until it is. Before my diagnosis, I thought of palliative care as a subset of hospice. I've since learned that many people view palliative care in this category. As … Continue reading Palliative Care
Guilt vs Shame
Guilt /ɡilt/ noun is "the fact of having committed a specified or implied offense or crime." Shame /SHām/ noun is "a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior." Guilt and shame often go hand in hand as the the same action (or non action) may give rise to … Continue reading Guilt vs Shame
Grief
"I measure every Grief I meet With analytic eyes; I wonder if It weighs like mine, Or has an easier size. I wonder if they bore it long, Or did it just begin? I could not tell the date of mine It feels so old a pain. I wonder if it hurts to live, And … Continue reading Grief
What’s different?
There's always one or more discussions going on in #CancerLand about what might have or will cause cancer. For those of us with cancer, this discussion is fraught with pitfalls and angst. No one, after all, wants to be told that they did something to cause the worst thing that has ever happened. No one. … Continue reading What’s different?
Bullying
bul·ly /ˈbo͝olē/ verb; gerund or present participle: bullying is to "seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce (someone perceived as vulnerable)." I've never been all that susceptible to bullying. There have been times that I felt bullied or pushed by various people in a variety of contexts; however, I wasn't aware of it in the moment. The … Continue reading Bullying
Negativity
It hasn't happened to me personally yet, however, I've observed several people I know being accused of being negative as they shared their actual, real life experiences with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. I've read their accounts carefully and realized that I've said the same or similar things in this blog and on other social … Continue reading Negativity
No Half Measures 