I go to SCCA two, three, or four times a month to volunteer with the Patient and Family Advisory Program and Council. Those visits are often inspiring although we are often dealing with grave topics. I get to work with SCCA/UW/Fred Hutch staff and other cancer patients/survivors and caregivers on […]
On February 3, I celebrated the two year anniversary of my first day of chemotherapy. I spent the entire day celebrating, both inwardly and outwardly: Celebrating the fact that my mind was clear and not foggy from chemo and that I was able to successfully make it through a stressful […]
Life never slows down. No matter how much I plan my days, schedule time for myself, schedule work in actual “work hours”, I find my days passing before I’ve realized that I’ve experienced them. Since I last blogged, I fortunately have been lost in living a life that has been dizzyingly, blissfully […]
I can’t believe Labor Day weekend is upon us. It feels as though the past three months passed in a matter of minutes despite the fact that this summer has brought several profound experiences where I felt like time stopped altogether. The summer started off on a pretty rough note […]
On April 23, I ran my first ten miler. This race was incredibly special to me for multiple reasons. It was the Chapel Hill 10 Miler that benefitted UNC Lineberger, which I wanted to run last year but I couldn’t participate because I was in the midst of receiving chemotherapy there. This year, […]
The week in April that I was hospitalized was the most challenging in terms of facing and understanding my own mortality. The past month since I lost my job has brought an entirely new set of challenges and realizations of my sense of self and strength. Working through the devastation […]
By last Saturday, my energy levels had returned to almost normal and have been great ever since, so I feel like I have a good week to recover before going in for my third infusion next Tuesday. We also had an awesome time last weekend hosting Alecia and Amit, and Abbey […]
I made it through the end of the weekend before last and that Monday feeling great physically, only dealing with the continued shedding of the stubble that remained on my head. I had been increasingly anticipating my labs and follow-up appointment with Dr. Park on Tuesday hoping that I would […]
When people think of what cancer patients look like, one of the first things that comes to mind is often baldness. It is a difficult thought not only for the cancer patient who has or will loose his/her hair, but also for the person who either associates baldness with cancer […]
On Friday, January 31st, my eggs were retrieved, fertilized, and started their journey to become blastocytes. Here are the final numbers: 20 eggs were retrieved. 19 eggs were mature and fertilized. On day 3, 18 “cleavage stage” embryos existed (the cells in the embryo are cleaving (aka dividing), but not […]
