One of our favorite things to do in the evenings before dinner is to turn the music up, turn the stove down and dance in the kitchen. One of our dogs, Gary Dug, has some pretty good dance moves too and loves to dance with one paw on each of us. We call it a love fest. It had been a long time coming but we were so grateful to feel good again, to take back our joy that was put on hold by breast cancer - and to dance. Yes, yes.
Author Note: A Stroll Down Mammary Lane is an ...
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s just not.” - Theodor Seuss Geisel. Dr. Seuss wrote many memorable words, including some pure nonsense, his undeniable specialty, but this simple suggestion resonates with me more than some of the greatest quotes from history’s philosophers, orators and writers. It is a decisive call to action that all people – great and small, as they say, can adopt.
During National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, LikeTheDew writers and readers have cared a whole awful lot about breast cancer with stories and comments from survivors ...
My hair was growing back. I had new breasts. My chemo port was out. I was cancer free and training for an upcoming triathlon. I was a survivor, but I couldn’t help thinking back to the time when cancer was not part of my identity.
Author Note: A Stroll Down Mammary Lane is an illustrated journal chronicling eighteen months of our experience with breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and cure. During the long convalescence, I spent most of my time horizontal healing from multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and other treatments. I was unable to work in my pottery studio and my career as ...
The Business of Breast Cancer
Just look at the market: one in eight American women will get it — based on current US populations, that works out to 19,337,500 potential customers. 192,370 new customers just this year who will spend the Medicare average of $31,735, or more, to treat it.
The CDC says $7 billion was spent on treatment of diagnosed breast cancer in 2007, but that number doesn’t come close to the total amounts spent on living with it or fearing you'll get it. Eight in eight American women (154.7 million) are aware that they could be the one in eight.
Breast ...
After my nipple grafts had healed it was time to choose the nipple color to be tattooed on. Since my newly reconstructed breasts, and all the surrounding area had no sensation, it was a painless procedure. I was warned by the Mayo’s tattoo technician that choosing a nipple color was tricky and could take a long time. Since I was an artist, we all had visions of me being there for hours getting the color just right. I took this drawing of The Thinker with me to the tattoo procedure. The plastic surgery staff got quite a laugh out of ...
The eighteen month long treatment phase had finally started to wind down after 16 rounds of chemo and 30 rounds of Herceptin. This was the final surgery that included constructing and grafting nipples, getting my chemo port removed and liposuctioning the excess fat that had migrated from my chest to my armpits (sounds sexy, doesn’t it). I was more than ready to get over this last surgery hurdle but dreaded another recovery time, which turned out to be minimal compared to some of the previous procedures. David Ray always lectured the doctors and nurses to take extra special care of ...
Our sweet dogs, Abbie and Gary Dug, suffered too. They knew I was sick and stayed real close. Friends would walk and feed them when we had to leave for long days at the Mayo Clinic. It was probably a good thing that the doctors didn’t tell me that the chemo was cumulative in my system. By the time the sixteen chemo treatments were done I was too weak to make it to the mailbox much less give the dogs a worthy walk. After the chemo was over and the side effects began to lessen one of the first things ...
The nurses at the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic were so caring, efficient and accommodating. They would try to give us a private room, an extra pillow and heated blankets so David Ray could rest beside me while I was getting my weekly treatments. We became friends and I still check in with them when I go for follow up visits. Some of the nurses were breast cancer survivors themselves. One nurse got diagnosed during my time there and we commiserated on mastectomies and reconstructive surgeries. When I finally completed my last chemo treatment they gave me a certificate with all their ...
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