Beyond Awareness: Komen Westchester Metastatic Conference Keynote Address 2019

In November, I was honored to be the keynote speaker at Komen Westchester's Inaugural Metastatic Conference. The best of my speech is below, and the video of it can be seen here. The poet Anya Krugovoy Silver, who died in 2018 from metastatic breast cancer, wrote, in her poem Stage IV:  Suddenly, gloved hands empty …

Brain Tumor Chat

I'm slowly digesting this news - yes, now my breast cancer is in my brain. But as I process this information, I also have to keep reminding myself that the lesions are very, very small. These spots are manageable. I've found some measure of compartmentalization that has allowed me to give this new development a …

Good News/Bad News

Clinical trials are always a bit of a crapshoot. On one hand, you have the opportunity to be treated with the most cutting-edge technology, medications, and treatments available. On the other hand, well, it's a trial. There's no truly solid data on its efficacy because you are the data. I felt fairly comfortable with my …

The Intersection of Cancer and Life, Episode 9: Dana Donofree of AnaOno Intimates

Episode 9 of the Intersection of Cancer and Life features an incredible guest: Dana Donofree. Dana is best known as the founder and creator of AnaOno, a lingerie company specifically for women navigating breast cancer. I first met Dana in the spring of 2018 at the Living Beyond Breast Cancer Metastatic Conference in Philadelphia, PA, …

The Intersection of Cancer and Life, Episode 6: Emily Hopper

Episode 6 of the Intersection of Cancer and Life features Emily Hopper, the mama, artist, advocate and breast cancer survivor behind alternative breast cancer awareness apparel brand, EMPOWERHAUS. She is also the founder of Flatties Unite, the popular Facebook group for women living with fewer than 2 breasts. Emily was diagnosed with stage III triple …

Final Notes on My Hysterectomy

It's been five weeks since my hysterectomy, and I can still say that my recovery has been much better than expected. I have had no complications up to this point, and physically, I don't really feel like I just had surgery. I was surprised at how minimally invasive the laparoscopic surgery really was, and my …

Salpingo-Oophor-Hysterectomy: All the Oophing Details

I'm now five days post-op, and - spoiler alert - I am recovering better than I expected. Last Thursday, I underwent a total salpingo-oophor-hysterectomy, which in non-medical-jibberish means that I had my ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, and cervix removed. I elected to undergo the surgery because my breast cancer is estrogen driven, and the ovaries …

Family Medical Bingo (Alternate Title: My Hysterectomy Was Not the Big Medical Event of the Week)

Well, I'm glad that this week is over. I'm about 48 hours post-op from my hysterectomy, and all things considered, I'm doing well. However, our family had quite the eventful week, medically speaking, so let's back up a bit, shall we? On Monday evening, I noticed that Felix had a rather large, angry-looking bug bite …

Salpingo-Oophorectomy: More Fun to Say than to Do

I finally bit the bullet and made a date for surgery: on August 23rd, I will undergo a salpingo-oophorectomy and total hysterectomy. That means that I will have my fallopian tubes (salpingo-) and ovaries (oophorectomy) removed, and undergo a total hysterectomy (removal of the entire uterus and cervix, with vaginal reconstruction). Just typing this makes …

Cliff Jumping

No, not actual cliff jumping. But after my most recent PET scan, I couldn't help but feel like I was poised at the edge of a cliff. Truthfully, I've felt like that for a couple of months. I keep looking down and feeling more and more afraid of what is down there. Other than, you …