About 30% of people diagnosed with breast cancer at any stage will develop distal metastasis. I am one.
I’ve had some scary experiences lately. * My cordless phone suddenly switched to speaker. I had no idea how it happened and could not for the life of me figure out how to switch it back until I had randomly pushed lots of buttons. * I somehow managed to delete...
During what has come to be known as the First Gulf War in 1991, Iraq bombarded Israel with Scuds (tactical ballistic missiles) that were believed to be armed with poison gas. The Israeli population was equipped with emergency kits that included a gas mask and filter and an atropine syringe....
Do not tell me how to feel! For those who may not read through to the end, here is the take home: you do not get to tell me how to feel or what my attitude should be, no matter who you are. Sure, it’s more comfortable for me and...
It’s no secret that a cancer diagnosis makes people depressed and anxious. It is less known that some medicines used in the treatment of breast cancer can cause anxiety, particularly hormonal treatments.(1) It is even less well known that, in contrast to the depression, which tends to decrease over time,...
Slowly but surely, cancer is chipping away at my dignity, my autonomy, my self-image. Last week I agreed to my oncologist’s suggestion of treating my apparent depression and anxiety disorders as a quality of life issue, and accepted my GP’s prescription of an SNRI. I know that objectively that was...
It is my great pleasure to host a guest post by Greg Smith MD, an American psychiatrist who blogs his “mental health musings” at gregsmithmd.com. We sisters in mets often feel sidelined by the breast cancer awareness movement, but Dr. Smith draws our attention to an even more marginal group:...
I cried this evening. I began to get tearful while talking to a friend on the phone, describing how tired I’ve been lately. Just tired. “It scares me,” I said, and I welled up. I did my best to keep it in but only partially succeeded, so I went and...
October being Anniversary Month, I am republishing some of my favorite posts. This one seems appropriate after my drama queenery of last week. It was originally posted on January 25th of this year. I chose it because it’s always good to remind myself that I am in charge of deciding where...
