I Caved

I've been having some pain around my ribs. My oncologist's office ordered up a bone scan for me to check for metastasis to the bones.

I decided to wait and let them call me. I was determined NOT to call the office and ask for my results.

This is what I told my friend:

"The old me would have been on the phone to the doctor's office the very next day asking for those results. But now, I look at it like this - what if it is bad news? I can't change it. Why would I want that bad news even one day sooner? Why not just enjoy as many days as possible believing that I am cancer-free?"




I made it four days & then I caved.

I called and asked for my results: all clear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm due back for another follow-up in December.

Oh and I also have to tell you: I am seriously loving my hair. I am 15 months post-chemo and my hair doesn't just look good it looks great. I really need to get some new pictures up. The one on the sidebar is quite outdated.

Breast Cancer Stories

I never get tired of breast cancer stories. If I do, I'll shut down this blog.

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Meanwhile, I'm totally digging BreastCancerStories.com .

You can put your story on their site & arrange it by chapters (for example, Diagnosis, Chemotherapy, Telling My Friends, etc.).

As a reader, you can search for stories of interest with various filters. I put in ILC (invasive lobular cancer) and got 7 results.

You can filter by age of diagnosis, location, type of treatment...Be forewarned that sometimes you click on a story and it just says "Future Home of So-and-So's Story."

Go to their home page then click on "Stories" to get started.

Finding A Little Bit of Life

From time to time, I've posted pictures of my garden on the blog. Right now, I have a hard time finding bits of life in my yard. Here in central North Carolina we have been in a severe drought. Honestly, I can't even recall the last time that we had rain. And temps remain in the 90s. Stuff is dying right and left;even the established trees look stressed.

But this is a blog about LIFE, and finding the little bits of it where you can. Here's what I came up with:

Review: Breastless But Still Breathing

Over the holiday weekend, I read Breastless But Still Breathing by Anita DuJardin Hockers (with Kathleen Marie Marsh). The subtitle is "A Breast Cancer Survivor's Journey," and it is indeed a memoir. The book doesn't take long to read - I read it in two sittings - and what I really liked about it was that I felt like I was sitting down with Anita and chatting over a cup of coffee.

She tells her story in a straight-forward, conversational way that I found endearing. I'm always fascinated by each survivor's unique take on the universal Big Moments like finding the lump (or finding out that your mammogram is suspect), receiving the diagnosis and telling your family. And I like to read about the series of Small Moments that also seems to be fairly universal: discovering who your real friends are, exploring your treatment options, and the lessons learned along the way.





As a reading experience, the book had a nice balance to it. There was both familiar turf that I could relate to and something to be learned.

On on the one hand, Anita DuJardin Hockers and I have some things in common beyond sharing the dreaded diagnosis : we're about the same age, we have children that are of similar age, and we both married a great guy that we've know since we were quite young. But through reading the book, I discovered what it is like to live with a strong family history of breast cancer and the sense of inevitability that can come with that history. I was also really interested in reading through her reasons for NOT having reconstruction.



The last chapter is called "Smile: You're on This Side of the Sod." Gotta love that.

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Amazon Link:
Breastless But Still Breathing

Author's Website:
Breastless But Still Breathing