First, an apology for the multiple months of silence on here. Turns out that finding the time for blog writing is a lot harder when you're working full time AND continuing cancer treatment. Duh. So, I'm going to do my best to catch up on what's gone on in my life cancer-wise since May. The … Continue reading The Long Road to Radiation →

A few weeks back I had the *hopefully* last of my surgeries - the completion of my reconstruction - getting my fake boobs (foobs) installed. After spending a LOT of time with my plastic surgeon deciding on shape, size and placement, and giving my body enough time to heal after my prior surgeries, we were … Continue reading New Foobs, Who Dis? →

This entire cancer experience has been a series of fortunately/unfortunatelys. And my BRCA-1 mutation is no different - it truly has been both a Blessing and a Curse. At my monthly cancer support group (more officially known as Young Survivor Coalition) one of the members was talking about how she was struggling with figuring out … Continue reading BRCA Buddies →

My goal all along this cancer adventure (journey? rollercoaster? shitshow?) was to get through it as quickly as possible to get to my "new normal" and to be cancer free going forward. So, when my BRCA-1 mutation was confirmed, I knew that getting an oophorectomy (removal of ovaries) was in my near future as part … Continue reading A tale of many “-ectomy”s →

It's been almost three weeks from my surgery, and all things considered, life is going pretty swell. The pathology of all the cells they removed came back and there were NO traces of cancer in anything they removed, which means I had a "Pathologically Complete Response" (PCR) to chemotherapy - which is the best possible … Continue reading Drains, drains, go away →

Surgery today went as good as can be. Ralph and Lauren are officially gone. My lymph node came back cancer free (so I got to keep the rest of my lymph nodes on that side - and this means the cancer didn't spread). Plus when they removed the tissue on the right side there was … Continue reading Cancer Free →

Preparing for any surgery is an ordeal (at least I assume so, I've never had major surgery before). It requires mental and emotional and physical preparation. But what I've learned about mastectomy surgery (after reading somewhere on the order of 100 different other blogs) is that it also takes a lot of STUFF to adequately … Continue reading Prepping for Surgery →

Chemo may be over, but I'm not even halfway through cancer treatment yet. In the coming months I've got three surgeries planned, followed by radiation. But the big deal of all that, the big kahuna so to speak, is the first surgery - the Double Mastectomy. In less than two weeks - on February 14th … Continue reading Let’s Get Physical →

Slowly (very, very slowly) my hair is starting to grow back. The places where I lost hair last (eyebrows, eyelashes, parts of my head) are the places its growing back first. My nose and armpit hairs are nowhere to be found yet. So, I thought it would be fun to document my hair re-growth - … Continue reading Rabbit, rabbit →

Tomorrow's the big day. It'll be my first full day in the office since August. And while my return to work will be short lived (Surgery #1 of 3 is scheduled for February 14th) it doesn't feel any less of a momentous occasion. It feels sort of like the first day of school ... I … Continue reading 2019 Trend: Bald Brows →