metastatic breast cancer

Metastatic breast cancer is cancer that has spread to far off sites in the body. It's what Daria of daria-livingwithcancer has and now she is moving to a hospice - the medical trial drug she was on shrunk her tumours but affected her liver and now she is dying...
Julie of fitnessforsurvivors has written an interesting post and has directed readers to an article in the New York Times this week which deals with metastatic breast cancer.
I like this quote at the end, made by Dr Suzanne Hebert, an optomotrist in Connecticut:
"Dr. Hebert says that while the pink-ribbon campaign has raised awareness about breast cancer, it masks a relentless killer.
“People like the pretty story with the happy ending,” she said. “We don’t have the happy ending.
“You always hear stories about women who ‘battled it’ and ‘how courageous’ they were. Cancer doesn’t care if you’re courageous. It’s an injustice to all of us who have this. There are women who are no less strong and no less determined to be here, and they’ll be dead in two years.”
Ja, I don't do the pink ribbon thing. Would feel most uncomfortable wearing on although I would not hesitate to wear a red ribbon for HIV/Aids. 
Do read Daria's blog if you want to inspiration on how to tackle adversities. She is too wonderful and I am going to miss her and her blog postings. Read the comments on the latest ones, in the last week or so, and you will see how she has touched so many people. Then read some of her earlier postings (I did, the other night) and you will see how her writing reveals an energy that she has not had for a long time, but the determination and resilience and practical approach has never left her. She is moving to a hospice within days...
And read Julie's most recent posting on pink ribbons and Daria and read the New York Times article on metastatic breast cancer.

Was asked to add this link: (9 September 2014)... (Also need to note that Daria died) 

 

I wanted to let you know about this great resource Healthline has about breast cancer. The resource includes a virtual tour on understanding the progression of breast cancer, from where it starts to how it affects the body. You can see the guide here: http://www.healthline.com/breast-cancer/anatomy-animations#1/breast-cancer-where-it-starts

www.healthline.com

 

 

 

Found another cancer blog I like

Survived the breast cancer breakfast. Although I declined a pink ribbon pin on arrival - why will I wear a red Aids ribbon but not a pink breast cancer one? - and found most of the crowd there alienating, it was interesting to hear a young breast cancer survivor, as she called herself, a 29-year-old also on herceptin whoswe boyfriend found her lump.
And it was interesting to hear Mother Earth talk, presenting herself as this super honest, hyper casual doctor who is an expert on breast cancer, who is so honest that she even spoke about her going into early menopause cos of anxiety.
Interesting too that she differed from The Tango Man in two respects. She said that it was nonsense to say that reconstruction surgery could not be done immediately following masectomy - yet The Tango Man said if I did choose surgery as an option (I didn't), then it was best I did not have immediate recontruction and waited until I finished my treatment (herceptin I think he was referring to).
Also, she said it was ok to use an hormonal cream for vaginal dryness on breast cancer patients; The Tango Man is dead against it. Well, dead against it for patients who have a hormone-receptor cancer.
What I also enjoyed about the breakfast was talking to my sister's friend who sat on my left. She is in her 5th, and last, year of tamoxifen and when she said she spends so much money on medication for the side-effects of tamoxifen, I was astounded. She takes blood thinners (I only had to take them before, during and after a longhaul flight - for the duration of the holiday plus a week before and after, that is) and has reflux and.... I said I didn't want to know, as I don't want to even know about them.
Anyway, now into a new breast cancer blog. Robyn Semanko's I am 30 years old and have breast cancer. Direct and unsentimental, Robyn's blog is honest and straightforward. A mother of two from Minnesota in the US, I like the fact that she says she wants to stay angry because "when I am angry nothing can hurt me. I think we'll keep angry for now and get rid of something else that I don't need, like kindness or generosity or something, who needs those," she wrote on May 16.