I had appointments with both the plastic surgeon and the breast surgeon this week to review the surgeries and sign the consent forms.  There is so much to process! The surgery will take place at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC on August 1.  I will find out the night before exactly what time to arrive, […]

As I said in my last blog, my surgery at long-last is scheduled for July 17. God Laughed. I received a call from the plastic surgeon’s office last week.  Due to a scheduling conflict, he needs to reschedule my surgery.  Would August 1 work? Would August 1 work?  Sure.  I’ll just call my sister in […]

The sudden, unexpected, untimely loss of your life partner is something that you cannot comprehend unless you have experienced it.  My entire life has been upended.  Therefore, I made the decision in January to pause my BRCA journey and my blog. I did this for a variety of reasons.  First, my entire support system—driving me […]

This is a quick update, since so many have asked. As you all probably know by now, my family suffered a devastating loss in January when my husband Evan died very suddenly and unexpectedly. I’m not planning to process my grief through this blog, but obviously this has a huge impact on my life right […]

First, thank you to everyone who commented on my last blog.  It was very emotional to write but I certainly did not expect the response I received.  I’m grateful for all the words of support and encouragement. So I’ve decided on surgery.  Other than what I wrote in my last blog, there is one other […]

Today was Yom Kippur.  As usual, I spent most of the day in synagogue, praying for forgiveness and a good year.  It’s now 1 AM, and I’m wide awake.  I suspect that the hour-long nap between services, as well as the 2 cups of fully caffeinated coffee I had at 8 PM with my bagel, […]

A few weeks ago I had my 6-month checkup.  At each 6-month visit I alternate imaging between mammography and MRI.  This visit I was scheduled for a mammography.  The good news is that mammographies are quick compared to MRIs.  The bad news is they hurt. Oh well.  I’ve been getting them for years, so I’ve […]

As I discussed in my last blog, triple negative breast cancer—TNBC—is breast cancer that is not fed by estrogen, progesterone, or HER2 protein.  Overall, it represents 10-15% of all breast cancers, but 70% of breast cancers in BRCA1 patients.  Because it is triple negative, hormone-blocking drugs such as Tamoxifen are not an effective treatment.  How […]

BRCA. PBM. TNBC.  HER+.  PR+.  ER-. DIEP.  So much lingo, so many acronyms.  Breast cancer has its own language.  I’ve spent the past several months learning to speak it, and it’s still overwhelming.  But I need to understand the lingo to make informed decisions. Recently I decided to do some research on the different types […]

Chris Evert Diagnosed With Ovarian Cancer You may have seen the news this week that tennis legend Chrissy Evert has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  That is the headline; but her story goes much deeper.  According to published reports, Chris Evert’s sister Jeanne was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2017.  She died of her illness […]