Category: Breast Cancer
My Breast Cancer Journey, a.k.a. The Adventures of Doreen the Pig (breast cancer mascot)
55. April Screening
Update. April’s screening is done! Seeing the physicians (breast surgeon and oncologist) who ordered the tests next week. Bone scan, blood work, abdominal ultrasound, chest x-ray and finally today… a chest wall ultrasound at the (no-)breast center where all the health craziness of 2022 started in February of that year. At least I didn’t have […]
54. Haircut, Hooray!
Haircut, hooray! Here I am looking absolutely excited about the first post-chemotherapy haircut. Goodbye unruly chia pet hair. Hello hair “trimmed into submission” (thanks to my friend Elaine for that appropriate phrase). Doreen approves.
53. An Anniversary, and Making Progress
March 31, 2023Doreen the breast cancer mascot celebrates the first anniversary of boobless-ness with one of the foobs from Knits by May. They are also known as “knitted knockers“. April 4, 2023 It’s been a busy couple of days, and will be busy through next week. I will be undergoing all sorts of surveillance tests, […]
52. Chemo Brain and Aphasia
I’ve sent some friends an early draft of this post, and was debating whether I should put it here for everyone to see. Obviously I’ve decided 🙂 so here it is along with Doreen in an oversized bucket hat to represent chemo brain. Two days ago, I realized I am not ready to start seeing […]
51. Goodbye, Portacath!
January 17, 2023 Update. Today’s milestone: portacath was removed this morning. Woohoo! Recall that the portacath was placed back in May 2022 so that I could avoid having an intravenous line (IV line, or IV access) placed at every session for chemotherapy. Since IV access will not be needed at regular, frequent-ish intervals anymore, my […]
50. A Lola (Grandmother) Day
December 22, 2022 Update. I had a “lola” day (in English: “grandmother” day): fatigue and more pronounced joint pains. Recall that joint pains are one of the most common side effects of anastrozole, which I have to take for 5 years. No, I did not need to take any pain medicine, but as I powered […]
49. Performing Arts Medicine Around the World
November 19, 2022 I participated in this webinar representing the Philippines, and learned so much from the experiences of a diverse group of healthcare professionals from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Norway, Romania, South Africa, Singapore and Australia. The webinar is available here, although at this time it may only be accessible to members […]
48. Walk It Out
November 16, 2022 Update. The RCA cable I bought online was finally delivered today, and made for a much better Wii gaming experience for my recovery and rehabilitation from the laparoscopic THBSO (recall that the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries were surgically removed on November 3 – tomorrow marks 2 weeks since surgical menopause started). […]
47. Cording, Human and Otherwise
November 15, 2022 Update. Today’s theme is cording, both medical and otherwise. Cording, also known as axillary web syndrome (axilla = armpit), is a common side effect after breast cancer surgery. Since breast cancer often spreads from the breast to the axillary lymph nodes, surgeons often have to disrupt and/or remove the lymph nodes and […]
46. THBSO Recovery is Going Well + Anastrozole
November 10, 2022 Update. Long-ish post. Today is post-operative day 7 after laparoscopic THBSO (refresher: the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries are gone) and I am now in surgical menopause – as opposed to “natural menopause” when your ovaries just stop pumping out hormones due to aging. Went for my follow-up clinic visit and of […]
