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
Category: Medical Updates
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
Brace, Brace, Brace
For the first time in quite a few years, the weight of MBC is is a very present threat and we find ourselves bracing for what’s coming. In hindsight, I think I’d already started bracing for the news we got last week. Early last week, I had a PET/CT, which I get roughly quarterly, and … Continue reading Brace, Brace, Brace
Medical Update, October 2021
As most of you know, I get a quarterly PET/CT imaging test to determine if the cancer cells are behaving themselves. October 11, 2021 was my most recent PET/CT and it wasn't what we'd hoped for and, frankly, only happened in October because I'd advocated for it since I qualified for testing every six (6) … Continue reading Medical Update, October 2021
Medical Update — BIONJ and Jaw Surgery and Opioids and Recovery
Looking back over my recent blog posts, I have noticed that I've been blogging a lot more about my medical updates that anything else, so I suppose one could surmise what has been on my mind lately. I've realized (again) that not all pain is the same and there are just some body parts that … Continue reading Medical Update — BIONJ and Jaw Surgery and Opioids and Recovery
BIONJ, Part II
I've written before about Bisphosphonate Induced Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (BIONJ), which I was diagnosed with back in June of 2020, and you can read about that here. From what I am hearing from a variety of doctors, there are more cases of BIONJ since those of us with MBC and other metastatic cancers are … Continue reading BIONJ, Part II
Medical Update, 4th of 2021
Those of us who are forever patients are scanned all the time. We lovingly/sarcastically/mournfully call this process "scan, treat, repeat." Because of these regular scans, things that would never have been known about the interior workings of our bodies are known and become a potential issue, at least inside my head. I can't say that … Continue reading Medical Update, 4th of 2021
Medical Update, third of 2021
You can read the first and second updates if you need to catch up on the dilemmas I faced with regard to treating/killing/freezing/nuking/blasting the pesky met. The cliff's notes version is that there is one metastasis that just won't die and it's located in my right pubic synthesis; the options I was considering were cryoablation … Continue reading Medical Update, third of 2021
Medical Update, 2nd of 2021
On January 14, I published my first medical update of 2021, which you can access here, if you missed it. Basically, the cliff's notes version is this: pesky met in my pelvis won't die, first biopsy attempt did not show anything actionable, and we're trying to figure out what to do next. One major ah-ha … Continue reading Medical Update, 2nd of 2021
COVID Vaccine, Part I
I've seen so many people assert quite confidently that the COVID vaccine is perfectly safe and an equal number of people quite confidently say that it is not at all safe. Who is right? I have no idea. Were you thinking I'd say something else? I do have a lot of opinions and I'm not … Continue reading COVID Vaccine, Part I
No Half Measures 