My Cancer Journey

March, 2026 Had my third post treatment checkup. We needed to fly to Bangkok again as many oncology tests are not available in Lao PDR. This is 15 months after my last treatment, 2 years and one month since the partial mastectomy and I was considered NED (No Evidence of Disease), and 2 years and 7 months after diagnosis.  One month or so leading up to the appointments are nerve-racking, and I get increasingly stressed the closer it gets. Here is a fairly comprehensive list of my feelings/difficulties - Waiting Preparing  Nerves  Brain fog Headaches - has it metastasized to my brain? Moody Weepy Noticing Jittery  Chills Stomach problems Nausea Anxiety Hyperventilating  No focus  Stressed Short Edgy Angry Worry Snappy Difficulty concentrating  Agitated Sad Exhausted  Self absorbed  Scheduled tests - Blood tests Mammogram Ultrasound of abdomen Ultrasound of breasts Bone density test Follow-up visit with oncologist - The doctor is kind and thorou...

A port, short for portacath or subcutaneous (under the skin) port, is a small reservoir that is attached to a catheter, a thin, soft, flexible tube. It is implanted under the skin to allow easy access to veins. They don’t have to find a good vein, because they know the port feeds directly into one. The needle goes through the skin into the port, and the drug goes through the catheter into the vein. It makes it much easier to administer drugs or take blood samples.  When you have cancer they test your blood very frequently to make sure you are okay. Some need chemo infusions every week for twelve weeks, some, like me, get them every three weeks for eighteen weeks. For some of us the infusions don’t end after the chemo. I will be given Herceptin infusions for a total of one year. This will hopefully prevent the cancer from coming back.  Some choose not to have a port placed, but to get a new IV in the arm each time they get an infusion. Sometimes it is difficult to find a vein t...

Because the tumor showed to be less than 2 cm (.78 inches) and the lymph nodes did not look to be affected, my oncologist suggested weekly Taxol IV chemotherapy after the lumpectomy. It is a drug that attacks everything in your body. It kills the cancer cells, but also that which helps your body stay healthy. This is why many lose their hair while on this regimen.  Losing your hair does not sound like fun, but getting Taxol treatments will also lower your immune system because it kills your white blood cells as well. The white blood cells attack viruses that enter your body. They help you fight viruses and other illnesses. This is the scariest of the side effects because it can lower your immune system to the point where even something simple like a cold can be serious. This is why it is important to stay away from those who are sick while going through chemo. Taxol is administered once per week and builds up in your body during the twelve weeks it is given. This should kill whatev...

Monday, August 14, I had a consultation with a surgeon. The ultrasound and biopsy showed that I had invasive lobular carcinoma. This is why the tumor was not round, but flat with tentacle like offshoots. It also showed it was not large, 1.6 centimeters (16 millimeters, or .63 inches) at the longest part. The best news was that the lymph nodes looked normal, so no worries about it having spread beyond the original tumor. This was all positive. The surgeon said he would be able to perform a lumpectomy, cut out the tumor only, rather than a mastectomy, cut off the whole breast. He could do this before I went through chemotherapy because of the small size of the tumor.  The oncologist confirmed everything the surgeon said when I saw her on August 31. She added that the tumor was grade 2. They are graded 1-3, 1 being slow growing, and 3 fast growing. The biopsy also showed that the tumor tested positive for estrogen and progesterone, meaning that it feeds off those hormones. Being post ...