Breast cancer is ubiquitous. With nearly 3 million survivors in the United States alone, we all know someone who has, or had, the disease.
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Living Beyond the Fear
“Do you want them?” the doctor asked. I was 19 weeks pregnant with twins in 2000 and a doctor had just discovered a complication.
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Moving Forward
By: By: Steve Del Gardo Director/Founder of Protect The Pecs www.protectthepecs.org It has been a few months since I written a blog for BullshitCancer because I started a new business venture called Del Gardo’s Taste A New Tradition. It is a cannoli business offering up to 40 different flavors. My time has been consumed in making and creating cannoli everyday for which I AM LOVING IT! One of the other reasons that I have not written in awhile is the fact that things have been bothering me about what I am seeing in the world of the breast cancer community. Every year since being diagnosed, I thought the World would…
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A TALK WITH MY SON ABOUT CANCER
One of the things that I have never talked about is when I told my son that I had cancer. I think that was the hardest conversation I had at the time it was happening, more so than telling my parents and friends. When my doctor diagnosed me with breast cancer, I called my ex-wife to tell her the results. We both broke down crying because we knew that our son, Vincent, would suffer knowing that I had cancer. As I write this, I am tearing up. I told my ex-wife that she would have to tell our son. I couldn’t. Not yet. I know that was a lot for…
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A Day in the Life – Stage IV
By: Leah Taylor What you are about to read is my experience from September 25, 2018. It could be quite difficult to read for anyone dealing with breast cancer. It is raw and real. 6:15 a.m. I wake up. The bed leaves me stiff but I am grateful for my son and his family and their extra bed. So, I slept reasonably well considering I wasn’t in my own home. I stopped at my son’s after being released from the hospital last night. After a four day stay, it was too late to make it home without it getting dark on the drive home. I can’t drive safely after dark…
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Kristen’s Legacy
By: Joseph Jennings On 9-27, Kristen would have been 42, had her life not been cut short because of breast cancer. There is hardly a day that goes by that my mind doesn’t goes back to Nov 9. I see Abigail crying while giving her mom a kiss and telling her one final time “goodbye mom, I love you”. It is etched in my brain. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear Katlyn screaming “mommy please don’t go, I love you so much”. It is etched in my ears. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t watch Kristen struggle to breath as I see a tear fall…
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The Breast Advocate App: A Review from a Patient Advocate
Breast Advocate is an app for any woman or man affected by breast cancer, or at high risk of developing breast cancer. I write this review as a patient advocate and two-time breast cancer survivor.I have been an educator my entire professional life. I combine my training as an educator with my current role as a patient advocate providing information and resources about breast reconstruction options after a mastectomy. The term patient advocate has a broad definition, so I want to be clear why I am reviewing this app.Patient advocates work in communities specific to their expertise. Like educators, patient advocates inform their community, empowering them with information to improve…
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A Day in the Life of a Stage IV Breast Cancer Patient
By: Leah Taylor Before being diagnosed with cancer, I could not fathom what it would be like to live with cancer. I had preconceived notions about it. Even with an aunt being diagnosed with cancer when I was fourteen, I lived so far from her that her experience wasn’t on my screen. My concept of cancer was heavily influenced by the movie Brian’s Song. I honestly had no clue. None. What follows is a rough glimpse of my experiences on September 18, 2018.5:45a.m. When I woke up, I turned on the news to catch up with what is going on in the world. I make a cup of coffee and…
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Stand Up For Your Beliefs
By: Steve Del Gardo For the last several years, well mostly the last 5 years, I have read many articles, posts on social media on how people are imposing their beliefs on others when it involves cancer. Telling us how to use certain words to describe our cancer journey or how we should feel. Telling us not to use certain words or how we should live our lives. I have also come to realize that there are lot of negative people in our cancer circle more than the positive ones. And sometimes, well most of the time, these two forces fight against each other. IT NEEDS TO STOP! ALL…
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Tough Love And Healing For Tonsil Cancer Survivor
Written by Julie Poucher Harbin, Writer, DCI In December 2017 Robert Russell brought donuts to the nurses on all three wards of the ninth floor of Duke Medical Center — something he’s been doing regularly for the past three years. He started the tradition because he says it’s the least he can do for those who saw him through the “scariest” couple weeks of his life. In July 2014, at age 52, Russell was diagnosed by Duke surgical oncologist Ramon Esclamado, MD, with advanced stage human papilloma virus (HPV) associated squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx. The oropharynx is the middle part of the throat, which includes the soft palate, the…
