It has been almost 1 year since my breast cancer diagnosis and it has taken many months to get comfortable being a survivor. Now, I feel a good sense of how I go forward. In this episode, I share important realizations that have helped me to lessen my survivorship fears and allow me to focus on the amazing life I have been given.

Breast Cancer Life is a podcast about my breast cancer experience. This is for you, the person who may be facing a diagnosis, and the person who knows someone facing the reality or real possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis. Nothing could have prepared me for this lived experience. My hope is that you get a glimpse of what this life is like. 

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast. 

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare needs, questions, and concerns.  This podcast contains the opinions of the host.

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A year ago things were about to get real serious. It will be a year on May 11th since the MRI guided biopsy that came back as invasive cancer. So now I have been reflecting on what I was doing a year ago on select dates in the past several weeks.  

What I really want to share is about how I am moving on. That did not seem possible at all for most of the past year. Especially, when I realized how stuck I felt for quite a while between the recovery from surgery until just a few months ago.

I am not free of unhelpful thoughts - they come and go. I am also getting important thoughts that come into my head. I shift my thoughts to the things I have control over. That leads me to my exercise. I do know that exercise is the best medicine (in addition to the hormonal therapy).

So now, when I feel ok and not so scared that my cancer will return, I am faced with a new challenge that is throwing one of my biggest coping strategies out of balance.  I fell and broke my wrist 10 days ago. I ended up with a cast on my right lower arm and part of my hand. 

How was I going to survive?  Exercise, including lifting weights, are part of how I have grown stronger over the past many months. It is part of my coping strategy, where I feel control over preventing any recurrence. 

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This episode was recorded two weeks after surgery. The surgery was a nipple-sparing, skin-sparing left mastectomy. My reconstruction (placement of an implant) was done at the same time as the mastectomy. The treatment I had on the day of this recording was hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This therapy was needed to make sure there was good blood flow over the implant (in the skin and nipple area). I share what physical symptoms I have 2 weeks after the mastectomy and I touch briefly on emotions and the thought of going back to work. 

Breast Cancer Life is a podcast about my breast cancer experience. This is for you, the person who may be facing a diagnosis, and the person who knows someone facing the reality or real possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis. Nothing could have prepared me for this lived experience. My hope is that you get a glimpse of what this life is like. 

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast. 

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare needs, questions, and concerns.  This podcast contains the opinions of the host.

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It was a mostly smooth process planning for my breast surgery. In this episode, I discuss the process of going between the breast surgeon and plastic surgeon in the time leading up to my mastectomy and right after. 

Breast Cancer Life is a podcast about my breast cancer experience. This is for you, the person who may be facing a diagnosis, and the person who knows someone facing the reality or real possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis. Nothing could have prepared me for this lived experience. My hope is that you get a glimpse of what this life is like. 

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast.  

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare needs, questions, and concerns. This podcast contains the opinions of the host.

LET'S CONNECT:

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I am talking about how I shopped around for the best price on Tamoxifen in this episode. The drug is generic and should not cost much, if anything. The pharmacy prices, including the mail-delivery pharmacy from my insurance company, were all over the place. 

Breast Cancer Life is a podcast about my breast cancer experience. This is for you, the person who may be facing a diagnosis, and the person who knows someone facing the reality or real possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis. Nothing could have prepared me for this lived experience. My hope is that you get a glimpse of what this life is like. 

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast. 

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare needs, questions, and concerns.  This podcast contains the opinions of the host.

LET'S CONNECT:

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I have been exercising regularly for many months. For several months, I have been aware of how much I crave a good sweat and an opportunity to get my heart rate up into the high 120s and a little beyond. I would not say I am strong but I do see evidence that I am becoming stronger. I keep showing up and telling myself this is my best medicine. 

Recently, while searching for some information about exercise, I stumbled upon a website for a “We Can Row DC” and a special learn-to-row event in May. 

I signed up for a special event for breast cancer survivors. It is a learn-to-row experience on a weekend in May. The group sponsoring the event is a rowing club specifically made up of breast cancer survivors. 

We Can Row DC - https://www.wecanrowdc.com/

Breast Cancer Life is a podcast about my breast cancer experience. This is for you, the person who may be facing a diagnosis, and the person who knows someone facing the reality or real possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis. Nothing could have prepared me for this lived experience. My hope is that you get a glimpse of what this life is like. 

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast. 

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare needs, questions, and concerns.  This podcast contains the opinions of the host.

LET'S CONNECT:

[email protected] 

In this episode, I share resources and strategies I implemented to get information as soon as possible. This meant using a few tools and advocating for myself at a time when the full extent of the cancer was not yet known.

Breast Cancer Life is a podcast about my breast cancer experience. This is for you, the person who may be facing a diagnosis, and the person who knows someone facing the reality or real possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis. Nothing could have prepared me for this lived experience. My hope is that you get a glimpse of what this life is like. 

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast. 

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare needs, questions, and concerns.  This podcast contains the opinions of the host.

LET'S CONNECT:

[email protected] 

It was my first screening mammogram since being diagnosed with breast cancer. This mammogram was being done on the breast that did not have cancer in it at the time of my initial diagnosis. After reading the report from this mammogram, I wandered off into the world of searching for more information online. It turned out to be counterproductive and I developed a strategy to direct all of my thoughts into a place where they can stay until I need them. I share the whole story in this episode. 

Breast Cancer Life is a podcast about my breast cancer experience. This is for you, the person who may be facing a diagnosis, and the person who knows someone facing the reality or real possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis. Nothing could have prepared me for this lived experience. My hope is that you get a glimpse of what this life is like. 

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast. 

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare needs, questions, and concerns.  This podcast contains the opinions of the host.

LET’S CONNECT

[email protected] 

I have turned a corner in my life as a survivor. Perhaps this could be called “acceptance” of the life I am living now. Coincidentally, I am at the point in time where it has been a year since the journey of screening and diagnosing this cancer began.

In this episode, I discuss my experience using the website “Predict Breast Cancer” to obtain survival statistics for my specific cancer diagnosis. The website provides statistics based on treatment with surgery alone and also provides predicted survival statistics when factoring in other treatments (such as hormonal therapy). Survival statistics are generated for 5, 10 and 15 years from surgery, based on what options I selected. 

Note: This is data I am sharing about my own online research, as a patient. This is my personal experience and not healthcare advice. 

Breast Cancer Life is a podcast about my breast cancer experience. This is for you, the person who may be facing a diagnosis, and the person who knows someone facing the reality or real possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis. Nothing could have prepared me for this lived experience. My hope is that you get a glimpse of what this life is like. 

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast. 

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare needs, questions, and concerns. This podcast contains the opinions of the host.

LET’S CONNECT

[email protected] 

REFERENCE MENTIONED

(n.d.). Predict Breast Cancer. Predict Breast Cancer. Retrieved February 14, 2024, from https://breast.predict.nhs.uk/about/overview/overview

Being diagnosed with breast cancer has elevated my awareness of how much I must advocate to receive the highest standard of health care. I am a unique patient and one individual healthcare consumer. The “one size fits all” state of healthcare is not tailored to meet all the needs of individuals. As I continue on this Breast Cancer Life journey, I am reminded of the need to share experiences, in hopes that others will benefit as they navigate the system. 

This episode includes my stories of navigating the health-care system and asking different providers about the best approaches to screening my remaining breast. I took things into my own hands and located a healthcare system that performs contrast-enhanced mammograms for this year’s screening.  

I reference this podcast in my episode: 

https://www.survivingbreastcancer.org/podcast/episode/774eb5a7/200-understanding-breast-cancer-screening-modalities-with-experts-dr-dibble-and-dr-rauch

Breast Cancer Life is a podcast about my breast cancer experience. This is for you, the person who may be facing a diagnosis, and the person who knows someone facing the reality or real possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis. Nothing could have prepared me for this lived experience. My hope is that you get a glimpse of what this life is like. 

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare needs, questions, and concerns.  This podcast contains the opinions of the host. 

LET'S CONNECT:

[email protected] 

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast.