About 30% of people diagnosed with breast cancer at any stage will develop distal metastasis. I am one.
A few of my thoughts You know how we say that something resonates with us? The word literally means that it reverberates, creates an echo in us. That is how I felt when the moment I saw this absolutely spot-on cartoon by Teva Harrison. I felt that it was ping-ponging around...
Sherri Fillipo is a now-retired registered nurse. On her blog she writes “This is my story – living and dying with metastatic breast cancer. Once a nurse and now a patient, I love how seaglass captures what cancer has done for me – softened and rounded my hard edges. Like the...
I’d like you to meet Nick Sadler, director/producer of Times Like These, a documentary film about male breast cancer featuring my friends Bob DeVito and Bill Becker. Bob is a breast cancer survivor and Bill passed away from the disease last September. Nick tirelessly advocates for male breast cancer awareness....
On the phone with my dear friend Aliza: “I want to write a new post but I don’t have a topic.” “A good day.” “What?” “Write about a good day.” Hmm… It never occurred to me, but what a great idea! So here it is: what a good day looks like...
2014 marks my 19th Pinktober. In 1996 the “Pink Ribbon Culture” was in its’ infancy, everyone climbed on board. In addition to Walks and Runs “For the Cure” an entire cottage industry grew. Pink Ribbon pins, bracelets, and a plethora of other stuffs became available in the marketplace. Breast Cancer...
Pinktober is as alien to me as shopping malls, sporting events, politics and television. I just don’t go there, just don’t do that. I have gone to the local oncology center weekly for over a decade and come to expect the seasonal onslaught of pink promotions. But most of what...
Part I is here. I joined groups for metastatic breast cancer, overflowing with positive pink attitude, as I started to adjust to a different way of thinking, maybe it wasn’t curable, per se, but it was manageable. A chronic condition, like diabetes. I’d be fine. I could manage this. The...
In 2010 when I was 37, I found a lump in my breast one afternoon. The cold weather was making it hurt, and it itched. I tried to locate it again later, but failed. It seemed to come and go, coinciding with my period, and always itched, always hurt. Everything...
Q: WOW! You’re stage 4? You look great! You must not be taking treatments. A: Thank you, I do. YES I’m IN treatment. And, without a miraculous intervention, will be until I stop treatment for quality of life or because there is no longer an effective treatment. Not every...
Project Occupy Pinktober: Throughout the month of October 2014, I am bringing guest posts from people who have been touched by metastatic breast cancer. Breast cancer is not pink and fluffy; it is a killer disease. This is not about saving breasts; it’s about saving lives. Thirty percent of everyone...
