I have a mammogram Friday morning. Routine preventive care, right? But I have very mixed feelings about mammograms. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2011, and the primary tumor had not...
Beth gets a gold medal for Christmas.
I was stumped by my funk last week. What did I have to complain about? I’d had my week of checkups, and was told that everything was okay. I’d been felt up by two female doctors and a...
I just heard about a new treatment device for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) and wanted to share the news with my readers. This bioelectromagnetic device is called TheraBionic, and...
How Beth got to her radiation treatments at the University of Colorado Hospital from the 15L bus stop at Aurora Court and Colfax. (Unfortunately, she forgot to photograph the sign outside the...
Beth goes to UCH to meet a radiation oncologist and get some tiny tattoos.
Self-portraits of Beth taken five days after her fifth chemo for triple-negative breast cancer.
I’m almost done. This Friday, May 4, 2012, is my last chemo. I don’t want to go, but I’m doing it anyway—because I don’t want to be a quitter. Because I don’t want to reproach myself later if the...
I just returned from working out at La Familia Rec Center, near Dailey Park in Denver. It’s a few blocks from our apartment. During this cycle of chemo (the third), I was a little later getting...
The post I wrote yesterday about chemo was so reasoned, so calm. But later that night, after watching Bright Star by Jane Campion, my true feelings came out. First of all, I have to explain that...
This week I’m not sure that “adventure” is the right word to describe chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer. “Endurance trial” seems wrong too, since my...
Once I started chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer, I became obsessed with having my hair buzzed at a barbershop before chemo could take it from me. Not that losing hair is new to me. My...
I took Cancer Vixen literally. After reading it, I thought the first couple of days after chemo would be easy. The steroids would keep me pumped until Sunday, at least. Maybe Prednisone works that...
I had a port inserted today so that I can receive chemotherapy (and have blood drawn) through the port instead of through a vein in my hand or arm. The left side of my chest is a little sore now, and...
I’m an impatient person who is getting lots of lessons in patience lately. My life seems like a film shoot: wait, wait—a flurry of activity—and then more waiting. I just got the results from...
Two days after moving into the basement of another friend’s house, I unpacked some of the items in our camping box. I wanted the blue polyester napkins I’d had since graduate school and a...