Invasive Lobular Carcinoma - The Stepchild of Breast Cancers

 It's never fun to be in the "other", "rarer", "more aggressive" category of breast cancers - that is, lobular breast cancer, the kind I have. It represents around 15% of breast cancers, but is often overlooked in its unique features that require different tools for diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance. 

The Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance's mission is to bring attention to LBC as a distinct disease, and to guide more research efforts towards its specific pathology. Here's a link to a short video that explains what we do and why we're doing it. Please consider supporting LBCAs mission. 

https://bit.ly/3sg6YoY

#ihavelobularbreastcancer #lobularbreastcancer#lobularbreastcanceralliance #lobularbreastcancerawareness#breastcancerawareness #breastcancersurvivor#estrogenreceptorpositive

More Imaging, More Waiting, More Hoping for Anything But Cancer

 

Another spin through the magnet - this time a full spine MRI that took 90 minutes. I understand now why people freak out on the table and refuse scans - it’s really claustrophobic, hot, and painful to lie motionless on your back for that long. 

Another scanxiety, another reckoning with what ifs and please don’t let it be THAT. Compression fractures, pinched nerves, osteoporosis, herniated discs - bring it on.

Just. Not. Cancer. I desperately want to make it to March 1 cancer free - exactly one year having no evidence of disease. One year isn’t a long time, and my shitty cancer hides and comes back a lot later, so this isn’t much of an anniversary, but goddamn it one year cancer free is one year cancer fucking free. 

Time to hydrate the gadolinium out of my kidneys!

#lobularbreastcancer #ihavelobularbreastcancer#estrogenreceptorpositive #scanxeity #mri #fuckbreastcancer#fuckcancer #breastcancersurvivor #breastcancerwarrior#triathletewithcancer #doctorsarepatientstoo

Writing Through Cancer. And PET scans.

 

One in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the US, and even though we're a large group, every one of us has a different story and a unique path. 

I had the privilege of talking about my journey with @wildfire_bc_magazine 's amazing founder @i_heart_my_lifeon #theburnpodcast - April's literary magazine helps young women with breast cancer write their stories. 

Ironically, as I publish a link to my episode that focused on exercise and triathlon in my journey, I am in a forced sedentary position for 24 hours before a PET scan today. What next level hell is this when the pre-procedure instructions say Do Not Exercise? 

My piece was in the Body edition of Wildfire - and my body has changed in so many ways it's hard to process, thanks to a diagnosis of breast cancer at age 45. My mind has, too. The regimen and training of triathlon have kept that body functioning and moving forward. It has also kept me sane - hence my irritation over being told not to exercise. 

PET-CT today, and more scanxiety. A good day to re-listen to this podcast and remind myself what I've been through so far. 

#writingthroughcancer #lobularbreastcancer#estrogenreceptorpositive#doublemastectomywithoutreconstruction#triathletewithcancer #scanxiety #flatandfabulous#noboobsnoproblem