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Radiation

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My cancer treatment plan includes four stages: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone therapy. I had two surgeries in July which now seems like a lifetime ago and in October I completed my chemotherapy regimen.   This post is actually out of chronological order because I found it too difficult to write about my chemotherapy experience while undergoing treatment. This was for two reasons: 1) for a week following each treatment I experienced side effects that required me to conserve my energy for work and other aspects of life and 2) during the week preceding the next treatment the last thing I wanted to think about while I was feeling somewhat back to “normal” was chemo. In fact, even now, just typing the word makes me feel sick to my stomach. I’ll eventually write about my chemo treatments because I want to fully capture this cancer journey, but for now, it's on to radiation.   I first met with the radiation oncologist shortly after my diagnosis in May. The in...
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Shedding

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Five weeks into my treatment and my hair has finally started to fall. I’ve been anticipating losing my hair since starting chemotherapy in September; it’s taken longer than I expected. It’s a weird feeling. My scalp is tender, and it's as though I’m acutely aware of every single hair follicle . Dozens of tin y hairs fall to the ground and in the shower when I run my hands over my head . Kona can no longer be blamed for all the shedding in the house!  
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Chemo Cut

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The list of side effects from chemo are long: nausea, vomiting, mouth sores, changes to taste and smell, fatigue...and of course, hair loss. To avoid the trauma of losing my hair in clumps and to have a degree of control over the timing of losing it, I felt strongly about getting a “chemo cut” before my first treatment. I wanted to ease into the transition and make the process a bit more manageable if possible. I had also heard that as hair falls out, the scalp can become sensitive and uncomfortable . Cutting one's hair can help alleviate some of the discomfort. My first treatment was scheduled for 1pm and my hairdresser, Rachel, happened to have an opening at 11 am, so I decided to go for it. I have thick hair, and I’ve never had a super short hair cut before, so watching Rachel pull out the clippers and start shaving the underside of my hair was a bit startling at first but eventually it felt freeing.   The nurses said I could lose my hair as soon as after the first treatme...
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Mending in the Mountains

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The weekend before starting chemo I had the opportunity to attend a retreat put on by the Cancer Support Community of Montana in Big Sky, MT. Around 50 cancer survivors from across Montana attended. I met several other women with br east cancer but also women living with kidney, ovarian, leukemia and other cancers.   The weekend was a perfect opportunity for connection, learning, healing and sharing in a beautiful setting . There were education sessions on exercise and nutrition ; a keynote speaker who led us through a grounding exercise ; yoga; an amazing sound bath; and a hike beginning atop Lone Mountain (elevation 8,8 00) and descending the mountain to the base camp.   All the women were incredibly friendly and open about sharing their cancer experience. Nea rly every in troduction began with someone asking you your name, where you lived, your diagnosis, and where you were with your treatment.   I came into the weekend still experiencing a lot of doubt and conf...
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Treatment Plan

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It's taken me several weeks to be able to write this post. I needed to wrestle with and eventually make peace with my oncologist's recommended treatment plan before I could post about it publicly. One thing that was communicated to me early on in this process by my medical team is that a treatment plan is not formally decided upon until after the final pathology results are received, which is typically a few weeks post-surgery. The plan takes into consideration age, overall health, menopausal status, stage of the cancer, grade of the cancer, the tumor’s genetic profile , and its hormone receptor status.     My situation is complicated by the fact that I have bilateral breast cancer, so I’m processing each test result twice. Some of the k ey factor s in developing my treatment plan include d :    The tumor in the left breast was stage 1A and the one in the right breast was 2A; both are considered early-stage cancer and have a very good prognosis, meaning tr...
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