I had just visited my oncologist for my three-monthly check-up when I found a small lump in my right breast. It was in the exact same spot I had found my original lump that led to the initial diagnosis of breast cancer.
Continue reading “Another bump in the boob”Tag: cancercoach
Colonoscopy
Colonoscopy
The genetic testing I did when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer put me at a slightly increased risk of colon cancer so my oncologist recommended I get a colonoscopy.
Continue reading “Colonoscopy”Potions and lotions
Radiation can be pretty hard on your skin. After about ten sessions you will start to notice your skin changing.
In my case, it started with lots of little dots, that looked like moles. My skin started to gradually darken, it looked like I had been sunbathing, I got a tan. It would progressively get darker and darker.
Continue reading “Potions and lotions”I am not your guinea pig
After completing four rounds of AC treatments and 11 rounds for Taxol, radiation was next on my treatment plan.
During my mastectomy, the plastic surgeon had implanted the latest version of breast tissue expanders: AirXpanders. The technology was still very new at that time.
Continue reading “I am not your guinea pig”High on Steroids
Steroids, they are the necessary drug during chemotherapy, but boy did they give me a hard time.
From the very first chemo session, they gave me a headache-like feeling mainly in my forehead and behind my eyes. A feeling I can still recall a little over a year since my last chemo session.
Continue reading “High on Steroids”Meeting the Red Devil
I really didn’t know what to expect from chemotherapy. I had seen some images of people getting chemo but had never been to the infusion area of the hospital until my first round.
I choose to have my sessions on Friday afternoon. Mainly, out of practicality to not have the chemo interfere with work too much and the advantage of going straight into the weekend after infusion so I could recover. I had arranged to also have the Monday following chemo off, if I needed extra time.
Continue reading “Meeting the Red Devil”Assembling your care team
Immediately following your diagnosis, you need to start thinking about your care team. After my first appointment with my Surgical Oncologist, I learned a lot and had a better understanding what doctors I needed in my care team.
The surgical oncologist is the person who will remove the cancer from your body. In my case, he did the mastectomy and lymph node dissection. In preparation for the surgery, I had to do a battery of test. More about this in the next post.
Continue reading “Assembling your care team”Step away from Google
If you type “breast cancer” in the Google search bar within seconds it will give you 526,000,000 (yes, that’s 526 million) results.
Google is a beautiful tool and it can make you absolutely crazy if you allow yourself. There are so many different stories of survivors, each with their own approach on how they faced the disease, there is a lot to learn and…
Continue reading “Step away from Google”
Bump In The Boob 