Category Archives: breast cancer

bio, breast cancer

Still a Member of the Cancer Tribe

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August, 2024: I’m coming up on the tenth anniversary of when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and nine years since active treatment (surgery, chemo, radiation) ended. Since then I’ve been taking tamoxifen to suppress estrogen in my body because mine was a hormone-sensitive cancer. 

In the early months and years, I feared that I would spend the rest of my life constantly aware that I was under the shadow of death in the form of recurrence. But that awareness faded sooner than I’d expected. Perhaps humans aren’t equipped to be constantly considering our own mortality. 

Most of the time I didn’t think about cancer anymore. When it came up, I had a rote patter that I would go through: “I had breast cancer x years ago, it’s been x years since active treatment ended, and at the five-year mark it was considered cured.” As my routine checkups dwindled from quarterly to annually, I had fewer reminders. 

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bio, breast cancer

7 Horrifying Facts About Chemotherapy

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I originally wrote this in January 2016 and submitted it to Cracked.com, which I was greatly enjoying at the time. Never heard back from them, so here it is.

There are about a bazillion different types of cancer. Not all of them require or even benefit from chemotherapy, but, when we hear “cancer”, chemo is what we tend to immediately think of, and fear the most. Except, of course, dying.

I have “difficult” breasts, and I’ve had cancer scares before. Each time, the most frightening possible outcome, to me, was chemo (yes, chemo scared me more than death). My nightmare finally came true: in late 2014 I was diagnosed with breast cancer requiring surgery and then chemotherapy (followed by radiation and hormonal therapy).

While chemotherapy may well save my life (we’ll get to that), it has proved in some ways to be almost as bad as I’d feared – and, in other ways, even worse. 

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bio, breast cancer, living in the USA

US healthcare: hazardous to your health

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When I got my first non-temporary job in the US, I had health insurance, but I soon started to experience the pains of for-profit healthcare. I was recently returned from study abroad in India, with lingering exotic health problems requiring expensive testing, which I had to pay up front and then wait to be reimbursed. This was a recipe for disaster when I was living paycheck to paycheck.

The insurer was slow to pay, and I was short $300 to pay my rent. After a fruitless phone call to hurry them up, I started crying in the office – I had no other resources. My manager personally loaned me the money to tide me over. Which was very kind of him (thank you, Larry!) but it was absurd that I’d needed it.

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bio, breast cancer

Three Years Post Cancer

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It’s been a while since I last wrote about cancer, largely because I don’t consciously think about it much these days, three years post-treatment. Then someone will ask me, with a concerned and meaningful look: “How are you?”

As far as cancer goes, I’m fine. I’m down to one annual round of mammograms, followed by visits to all my doctors, who tell me everything is good. This summer will probably be the last time I see the radiation doc. I need to see the oncologist at least annually, because I’m still on tamoxifen.

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bio, breast cancer

The Makeup Problem

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A couple of years ago, I took part in an all-woman training session at my company on “how to present to executives.” A small part of the session consisted of the trainer giving us advice on “dressing for success,” including: “You should wear makeup – otherwise it looks as if you don’t care [about how you look].” I pointed out that wearing makeup is not an option for everyone. For me, it mostly isn’t. Continue reading The Makeup Problem →

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