Category breast cancer

Not going to lie: things are a bit rough right now. Deviating from the 4-hour pain management plan yields excruciating results. A furiously itchy case of dermatitis has cropped up any place surgical tape or antiseptic cleaner  touched my skin.…

Got sprung from the hospital late Tuesday afternoon. Really glad to be home and receiving TLC from my dear husband. Pain is manageable but I hate the loopiness that comes with taking opioids. Just another factor among many that ensure…

Yesterday hit me like a truck. On the pain scale, I’m in the middle. Am currently hopped on goofballs. But  it sounds like things went as expected. Skin spared,  just one lymph node removed. Whomever invented the morphine pain pump…

I was just visited by Christine’s surgeon, and he said everything went well. She’s currently in with a plastic surgeon doing a preliminary procedure. All in, everything going as expected. —Mike  

Last night’s dinner at Proxi was a great call. As was meeting up with a friend at the sexy new bar in the Merchandise Mart after work. But perhaps seeing Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on their Skeleton Tree tour…

Life is unfair. Today I heard about the unexpected death of a college friend. Listening to Public Enemy on your buddy’s Walkman in the back of a bus driven by an man with achondroplasia on your way to a the ancestral…

Last week I scheduled my surgery for June 19th. Sincere apologies to my brother for stealing your birthday thunder. Still many unknowns to account for. Will I need chemo? Don’t know. Will I need radiation? Don’t know. Do they need to…

After 4 mammograms, 2 MRIs, 2 biopsies, and a genetic blood panel screening, we have a diagnosis and the start of an action plan. I need a unilateral mastectomy due to multiple instances of invasive ductal carcinoma. Surgery will probably…

Thursday’s biopsy results came in Friday afternoon via phone call, which I took from the privacy of my desk at home. The kindly nerd doc clearly did not relish this part of his remit; his cumbrous message was delivered gently…

So, MRI biopsy happened today. Took a long time. Have never felt more  uncomfortable or vulnerable in my life. Was deeply touched by the gentle care from nurses and technicians. I was momentarily concerned that the 5th-year resident doc performing…