Parker (AKA Camille, cough, hack) in Stage 4

                                     Episode 11 - A Day in the Life with Metastatic Breast Cancer Hello again! Early March, already! My, time does motor on when you finally get past the free floating anxiety you’ve been needlessly embracing since early December. Huh. Who knew? Yeah, well.   So! When last I posted, I’d found out I did NOT, in fact, have to endure a lumpectomy/mastectomy. And, me being me, was conflicted about it, and felt illogically blue about the whole thing. Well, I’m over that. No surgery! No disfigurement! No painful recovery! Yay! On to the next. What else should I worry about? Ah, what else, indeed. Well, I will tell you. As I have reported to you many times, one of the chief hallmarks of this stupid disease is uncertainty. You just never know when that Damocles sword you’ve got hanging over your pretty scrolled iron bed is gonna fall — in one way or ...

                                               Episode 10 - A Day in the Life with Metastatic Breast Cancer Ah, here we are now in the first days of February. I promised I’d be back to let you know what was going on with respect to the surgery/no surgery situation I was waiting on last time I was here.   Well! The only thing I can report, after sitting on the razor’s edge of anxiety, and apprehension since early December is…not a lot. And so it goes. As a recap, in early December, scans suggested some changes, but that I might be a good candidate to have the original breast lesion removed. My oncologist let me know she had already spoken with her surgeon partner, and they wanted to pursue a lumpectomy, as a way to forestall any future spread, and negate need for additional (read painful) chemo treatment. All I needed to do was have a breast MRI...

                                                                   Episode 9 - A Day in the Life with Metastatic Breast Cancer Well, here we are in mid to late January! Hope wherever you are you are warm and safe. I am…still here. Waiting to find out what happens next. Ugh. I was not planning on making another appearance here until I had some real news, but feel compelled to let you all know what things look like today. I did promise to present an honest description of this Day in the Life stuff. I was recently asked by a stranger commenting on the vlog why I was “coming clean,” as he put it, about my struggles with this thing. I responded to him as I have when I started this - that I hoped shining a light on the day to day experiences would be useful to other women struggling with metastat...

                                                                   Episode 8 - A Day in the Life with Metastatic Breast Cancer Ah, it is almost the New Year. Here’s hoping 2024 is a banner year for all of you! As for me, I am impatient for this year to end, and hope against hope January will provide me greater clarity, and a real time frame for what comes next in my treatment. I doubt very much I am unusual here when I note it is the waiting, and uncertainty that is most difficult. I can handle damned near anything, once I know what’s coming. So! As I don’t yet, I’m focusing on what I do know, what I have learned, and hoping my experiences, and thoughts find a home here with you. I relate now one of the most potent, and for me, powerful realizations regarding my diagnosis. Ok, I must admit,...

                                          Episode 7 - A Day in the Life with Metastatic Breast Cancer Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate the festival of lights, and welcome back to my day to day exploration of living with this ridiculous scourge. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be focusing on the pretty lights, and remembering it ain’t always about cancer! Yes, it is true! Believe it or not, there will come a day when you realize some things that happen in your life - whether good or bad - have nothing to do with breast cancer! Staggering epiphany, I know. Let me illustrate with an example from earlier this month. I went to my much loved Pilates Reformer class, and as usual, it kicked my butt in a most satisfying way. As I was catching my breath, and cooling down, I was on the floor retrieving exercise equipment I’d stashed under the Reformer machine. I ...

                                          Episode 6 - A Day in the Life with Metastatic Breast Cancer Happy first week of December! I hope you’re making plans for a lovely holiday this year. I am, though I’m feeling a little like Alice talking to the Queen of Hearts, when she tells her, “My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.” Does that resonate? Yes, well. Lots to do, lots to plan, and no time for feeling a little low energy. A little low energy? Ok, ok, a lot of low energy this weekend. But, it was to be expected. Friday, I went to the nuclear medicine clinic, and cancer center for scans (three), blood draws, a meeting with my oncologist, and finally, had an IV drip set up with an infusion of Zometa, to strengthen my bones. Long day.   In the last three years, I’...

                           Episode 5 - A Day in the Life with Metastatic Breast Cancer Hello, hello! I’m Parker, and I am back to talk more about a day in the life with metastatic breast cancer. First, I’d like to note the passing this November of the remarkable, brave and funny Betty Rollin. Her book, First You Cry, published in 1976 was among the best of the first person cancer narratives. Her honesty, and humor helped so many women suffering from the early stages of this disease. She made it to 87 years young! Thanks for everything, Betty, and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. Unlike Ms. Rollin, my breast cancer has metastasized (spread beyond the breast), and so my journey is a bit different. There is no surgery for me to remove the tumor, or the breast, as it would do no good. So, as well as taking daily oral meds to help stem the further spread of lesions in my body, I must regularly undergo...