All posts tagged: Cancer

RA and cancer support

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Cancer and RA seem to go hand in hand. Shortly after I was diagnosed with RA,  I was diagnosed with two different cancers, thyroid cancer and then breast cancer.  I had the big C hanging over me like a grey cloud, leading me down the cancer road with all the usual experiences.  After surgeries and after radiation treatments, I started looking for help, for support. I found it with the Cancer Support Now Third Annual Long Term Effects of Cancer Survivorship Conference.  A long name worth repeating as I became totally impressed with this organization. Dava Gerard, MD, a respected physician in the cancer field, gave the talk ¨The Journey: From Surviving to Thriving¨.  It was just what I needed.  Arti Prasad, MD presented ¨Holistic Cancer Survivorship¨.  Again excellent. There were breakout sessions. Free lunch from Jason’s Deli. The morning had started with a generous breakfast. I felt welcomed and very glad to be there. Since then, I have joined the board of Cancer Support Now and am on the committee for this year’s conference. Both are big commitments …

Rituxan- the final frontier

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Rituxan, the final frontier February marked the second anniversary of my Rheumatoid Arthritis diagnosis. After two years of treatment, my average pain level was reduced from 10+ to an average range of 4 to 7 every single day.  The constant presence of pain and a body riddled with inflammation continue to suck every drop of energy from my aging, aching body. My treatment was complicated by the addition of thyroid cancer and soon after that with the addition of  breast cancer. Both required surgery. Both required radiation treatment. Both required medication.  Both interfered with my RA treatment. The TNF antagonists, like Embril, are contraindicated for those who have recently had cancer. I am not allowed to have them. The ongoing treatment for thyroid cancer is to keep my body slightly hypothyroid. It helps prevent the cancer from recurring but it also increases the effects of RA fatigue. The ongoing treatment for breast cancer is anastrosole. It eliminates all estrogen in the body. It also puts me at high risk for osteoporosis as does Rheumatoid Arthritis. My treatment originally started with …

Rheumatoid Arthritis a training ground for cancer

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Rheumatoid Arthritis: A training ground for cancer. That is how I think of it. When I was diagnosed last year with RA, I read everything I could find on the subject. I was trying to figure out where I stood with the disease. My favorite book was M.E.McNeil’s The First Year Rheumatoid Arthritis. The value of this book is that it offers an approach, a way of thinking, to come to terms with a chronic, progressive disease. It gave me the same help when I had to come to terms with the diagnosis of two different cancers. • I journal regularly, expressing myself and establishing a timeline. • I think of my medical providers as my team that does include my pharmacist, physical therapist as well as the 6 specialists that I am seeing currently. • I see myself as the head of my team. I have confidence in my team. Each has a role. My role is to be proactive, to do my part. • I am able to accept my current situation, relaxing …

Radoactive Iodine treatment

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The pill come in a heavy lead container. The nurse has a glass of water ready. She suggests my son lift the lead container. He does. Then I do. We are both surprised just how heavy it is. She opens the container and tips the pill into my hand. I put it in my mouth and swallow it with the water. We go home. I am now radioactive. I don’t feel any different. I stay in my room for three days. I drink lots of water. I eat sour candies and lemon slices. I try to do all the right things. I also like being in my room so it is not hard for me to be there. My son brings my meals and won’t come within ten feet of me. He doesn’t want to suffer radiation side effects. He also sets his alarm so he can bring me my coffee at 7 am. Thoughtful and important to me. The radiology tech had made it clear to me that I was not to vomit for …

How to tell a charlatan

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I met my first  charlatan last week. I’m sure I’ve known other ones.  A charlatan presents as someone who is an authority on a subject when in fact she’s not. She often times is looking to profit from her faulty information, but not always. This woman approached me at a cancer class. She said my cancer was caused by an imbalance in my body. She could cure me. Doctors were clueless. Nurses were clueless, too. I really needed to go to her program and learn about the acid-alkaline diet. ( A friend had already given me a book on the subject.) I would be better. I would feel better. She didn’t have a card and mentioned she did a lot of other things. She wrote her info on the back of one of her other cards. Contact me, she said. To me the fundamental  sign of a charlatan is her attitude that she know best and that all the other resources in the world are bogus. There are too many good resources in the world. …

evolution of a cancer mind

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On Thursday I go to the Caring Hearts Cancer Support Group. This is at the Presbyterian Cancer Center in Albuquerque. It runs in blocks of six weeks. Lunch is served and discussion is 1.5 hours. Since I have been going, the hospital chaplain has been the facilitator. She is excellent. I have benefited immeasurably from my visits. The discussion turned to how we felt about our diagnosis. I never had the moment. I seemed to slide from one revelation to the next. I was not angry. I was too confused to be scared. I was always recovering from a treatment. I was exhausted and fatigued. My concern was having to spend my life in that state.  I am inclined to believe what people tell me and they did say fine fine fine. First  it was the severe rheumatoid arthritis (seven months to become manageable). Next was thyroid cancer. Not bad you will do fine. Next it was breast cancer(small but invasive) You will be fine. Next was more tests. More cancer. We need to move …

breast cancer was next

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Where have I been all this time? November 5th I had a follow up CT scan and between April and November, I developed breast cancer. There was a quick response in the medical community to this development. The next Monday I had a mammogram, an ultrasound and a biopsy all in one day. By Wednesday I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. The next Monday I met with the surgeon. Then on Tuesday I had a MRI and met with the medical oncologist and then on Thursday I met with the radiology oncologist. Busy! November 25th I had surgery. I had a lumpectomy to be followed by radiation(statistically same results as a mastectomy).  A sentinel node biopsy had no additional cancer cells. However, up to 30% of those with negative nodes already have micro metastasis. My cancer biomarkers:  estrogen positive, progesterone negative, Her-2/neu negative.  Next is the oncotype breast test. It took a month for them to finally tell me my cancer samples were damaged and they were unable to perform the test. Next stop …