Chemo Half-Way!!!

Easy part of the drive home today.

I am so excited that I got back on the offensive today with my third round of chemo! This marks the half-way point through the worst of the chemo and it feels good! At least right now it does...in a few days I'll be feeling the hit of all drugs I got today when the heavy duty nausea medicine wears off. What I am most thankful for is that I made it home safely in what is easily the worst snow storm to hit during driving hours that we've had since we moved to Northerrn Kentucky. What a mess it was out there!!! This picture I took was the easy part of getting home.

It seems this rough week happened for a reason as it often does in hindsight. If I had been able to take chemo any earlier than 10 minutes before Dr. Flora walked in to see me today, I would not have been able to get the very important Carboplatin chemo drug. His practice was trying to block me from getting that drug so that the brand-new Perjeta I am taking (see my past post for the backstory on this promising medicine) would be approved by my insurance. Dr. Flora fought for me during his entire Thanksgiving trip to Spain. He finally won the fight and got the approval of the head of OHC literally minutes before he met with me. Timing was everything today, and it all worked out in the end. He was just as excited as me if not even more! He fought hard for me and stood up against the powers that be to make sure I'm getting the best of everything I can take in an attempt to cure this cancer. That's what we are after, after all, not just buying me a few more years. Thank you once again, Dr. Flora, and thank you to the head of OHC for making the right, compassionate, caring call. My entire family is so very grateful!

The game plan from here is to check my blood counts on December 20 to see if they have rebounded enough for my fourth round of chemotherapy. Typically, I'm on an every-three weeks schedule because that's how long it takes for your body to build back up to take the next hit. If, however, I'm able to stay healthy and have my counts come back up quickly within two weeks, I'll be able to get my next round of chemo before hoping on a plane to Texas with the kiddos. Let's hope this happens. I don't want to have to wait four-and-half weeks to attack the cancer again. We've got it on the run and I don't want to give it a chance to take hold again. The tumor in my left breast has already shrunk enough that I can barely tell it's there. Dr. Murley checked my lymph nodes two days ago and couldn't feel anything there either! The chemo seems to be doing its job and my body is responding. All fabulous news! 

PICC line hanging out underneath my upper left arm. Fun, right?

I'll get my new port placed on January 9. In the meantime, the PICC line I had installed yesterday worked like a charm today. Although it is not very convenient to have it hanging out of my upper arm, it's better than the alternative and not as hard on the arm veins. A catheter leads from a vein in my upper arm to just above my heart and that's where the medicine is administered. Another reason I'm hoping I can get chemo on December 20 is so that they can remove the PICC before I leave for Texas to enjoy the holiday. I'm not supposed to shower while I have this thing hanging out of my arm, but that just can't happen in my world, so I already came up with some redneck engineering this morning out of need! Still, it would be great to be free of it before I leave for Christmas. So all in all, I count this week a success despite the bumps. My kids got a snow day today and had tons of fun playing out in the snow with Scott. I missed it today, but I plan on being here for many more super, fun snow days with my kids!

A Few Bumps in the Road

As some of you may know, I postponed my third round of chemo until after the Thanksgiving holiday so my family could go out of town to enjoy some time away with our dear friends. It was a wonderful getaway, and we all had the best time with the Krallman and Bloom families! I'll post a few pics at the end of this post that I also put on Facebook.

I was due to have my chemo this past Monday but not all is going as planned right now. A few days before we were due to leave for Lake Cumberland for Thanksgiving, my port incision popped open again and my port became infected. I was able to get in to see a doctor before I left who put me on hefty antibiotics to take care of the infection. He wasn't hopeful they'd be able to save my port. I followed up with him again Monday morning and he was happy that the infection seemed to be taken care of and that the port would be fine. I was very glad to hear that and ran over to OHC to get my chemo right away.

The nurses at OHC took one look at my port and decided they were not going to use it. First, it looked awful. Second, they were afraid if there was still infection present, it would push through into my blood stream when they accessed my port. Instead, they attempted to go through a vein in my arm to administer my chemotherapy. They attempted this six times each unsuccessfully. On the fourth attempt, one of the four nurses who tried struck a nerve in my arm which made it feel like my arm was on fire and my body started shaking uncontrollably. Not to give up, I let them keep trying. They attempted two more times and never hit a vein.

The frustrating part is that this was all for naught. After all the sticking, one of the nurses informed me that one of my chemotherapy drugs had not been approved by my insurance so they would not be able to treat me at that time anyway.

I have to admit, this experience did bring me down. I was feeling so wonderful and strong and ready to deal this cancer its next blow. I had psyched myself up for this round and made sure everything at home was taken care of so life would go as smoothly as possible on the upcoming days when I was not feeling well. But, as the saying goes, "the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray." I work hard to maintain a positive attitude and have not shed a tear of fear or sorrow since early on in my diagnosis. I never ask, "Why me?" but instead counter with "Why not me?" This day, however, I let the frustration get to me and I cried.

Tuesday, I woke up refreshed and back in the proper frame of mind. I let the previous day live in my past and felt ready to move forward no matter what this week may hold. My chemo schedule was up in the air at this point and back out of my control, so I made peace with that.

This morning, I went to see Dr. Heidi Murley who installed my port. It took her almost no time to decide that my port had to come out. She said she hadn't lost a port in 10 years, but I'm "the one" to break the streak. I seem to find a way to end up on the wrong end of the odds (ex. being struck by lighting, breast cancer for no apparent reason, etc.). I guess I gravitate to being special in that way.

So, here's my new game plan, folks. Tomorrow morning very early, I will have my port removed. Then I will go to radiology and have a PICC line placed in my upper arm that will stay with me until after the holidays. My chemo will be administered through the PICC line for my next two rounds. After the holidays, a new port will be installed through the other side of my chest and we will hope this one will carry me through the rest of my 12-month treatment. I will get my third round of chemo on Friday. I am hoping the nasty freezing rain and snow holds off so I can safely get to my treatment. I am thankful to have a plan in place. I will be one week behind punching this cancer where it counts, but let's hope it will be none less effective!

Speaking of being thankful, I did not have a chance to write about everything I am thankful for last week. There is so much to be thankful for and so many people to thank that I could write a novel. Just know that I am absolutely appreciative of everyone who has rallied to the aid of me and my family. It means so much more that you will ever know. The one person I cannot tell thank you to is one who has given so much. My brother-in-law, Tommie (Scott's only brother) sadly passed away this year. As some of you may know, he battled a nameless illness for so many years and fought so bravely. I know how important it was for me to put a name with the disease I was fighting. I can only imagine how frustrating it was for Tommie to never know exactly what was attacking his body. This makes him all the more brave in my eyes. He took it all in stride and was always happy and made sure everyone always had a great time when he was around. My kids loved him as much as he loved them in return. We all miss him so very much. The gift Tommie gave us when he passed was that of financial peace of mind during my battle with breast cancer. I know the last thing he would want to spend more of his money on is medical bills, but I hope he doesn't mind that the portion of his estate left to our family is being used to give me a shot at some more time on this earth to be here for Katie, Maddie and Brody. I know if he were here, he would be rallying right next to me and we would have lots of talks about the ups and downs of handling illness. I love him and miss him each day. My kids lost their grandpa Slansky too early and should have had much more time with their beloved Uncle Tommie as well.

Sorry to take this post to the sad side, but on the upswing, I know when my next battle begins and I am ready for it. Bring it on!

The kiddos had so much fun!

Kelly Bloom, me, Krista Krallman

Our family on Thanksgiving

Great News!

I have some more grand news to report. Genentech, the manufacturer of the new cancer drug I am taking called Perjeta, called to tell me they have enrolled me in their co-pay program. In a nutshell, they will pay for the bulk of my treatments with both that drug and the Herceptin I will take for a year! I will be responsible for a co-payment that will make this much more affordable plus my wonderful Doctor Flora is off the hook taking on financial responsibility which he did so willingly! His office worked wonders getting me into this program, and I am so very grateful!

There are kind, compassionate people and companies doing some amazing things for people. I refuse to buy into the gloom and doom cynicism we hear so much about these days. We are so fortunate to live in a country where people care so deeply and go out of their way to help those in need. I have been touched by the outpouring of care by not only my doctors, but their hard-working, deeply-caring nursing and support staff. I get calls regularly from my new friend Bev at Dr. Heidi Murley's office checking in to see how I'm doing and offering help in any way possible. She has offered to drive me to appointments, watch kids, whatever I need despite her own set of challenges she faces with a sick husband and demanding career. I received such an uplifting note from a nurse named Kim from the same office whom I only encountered once during my biopsy, but she was so touched by my story and the time we spent together that tough day that she took the time to write the most uplifting letter to me. I could keep going with all the small gestures I experience nearly every time I step into a medical facility these days. So much compassion gives me great hope.

The caring and support doesn't stop there. So many folks at my husband's office, Empire Foods, and at Kroger have offered so much help in the way of thoughts, prayers, meals and more. Here in Parlor Grove, I have found even more wonderful support from Emily Stinson who has run my daughter home from activities and checks in to see if there's anything I need. There is a group of ladies here, too, who have already lined up a meal for after my next chemo on December 2. What an amazing community I live in! I am humbled and blessed.

My Mom

My mom this summer with two of her snuggle bugs

As you can imagine, it has been tough for my mom to sit on the sidelines watching her daughter go through this battle with breast cancer. She's said so many times, "If only I could hold you in my arms or hold your hand..." As much as I wished that could happen, I insisted she stay put and take care of her own health issues first. I am strong and can handle this. I need my mom to be free from pain and strong herself in case I should stumble along this journey and need that care only a mother can give. I am happy to announce she has cleared two huge hurdles on her road to recovery. She had her bladder surgery yesterday and is home resting and recovering. I'm hoping her pain subsides quickly and she can get back on her feet soon. Even more of a relief are the results of her own recent breast mass biopsy. Yes, through all this, she had her own scare involving a call-back mammogram followed by a biopsy. I couldn't be more elated to report the biopsy showed a benign cyst in the same location she had one removed years ago. There is mercy! Mom, I love you with all my heart and can't wait to wrap my arms around you in a short 38 days!!!

Chemo Round Two Starts with a Miracle

I had something miraculous happen yesterday. Before my second round of chemo, I had a meeting with my medical oncologist, Dr. Douglas Flora. Much to my delight, he informed me that I would, indeed, be the 1st woman at the OHC practice to receive the brand-new drug called Perjeta recently FDA approved in neoadjuvant advanced breast cancer treatment for patients like myself with HER2 positive receptors. My doctor is very hopeful that this will help me live a longer life and knock down the recurrence rates which tend to run high with my flavor of cancer. He further informed me that my insurance company will not cover Perjeta because it is too new and still about three months away from being the go-to treatment given to all cases like mine. The medicine will cost in the ballpark of $90,000. Now here comes the miraculous part. My doctor takes breast cancer very personally. He lost his mother at a young age to breast cancer. Dr. Flora said to me, "You must live. You are a special case. You need to be there for your children." He vowed that if they couldn't get the insurance company to overturn their decision, he would pick up the tab for the new drug. In fact, he had already signed the paper accepting financial responsibility. I was nearly speechless as tears ran down my face. It's not every day someone gives you the gift of life and asks for nothing in return. The genuine compassion and care this man takes with me, with his other patients, is beyond heroic. I am humbled and so extremely thankful for being given the chance to fight this cancer with all the weapons that are available today. Not three months from now when it will do me no good because there is a synergistic relationship that couples with the three other chemo drugs I am on right now. All I can simply say is, "Thank you, Dr. Flora! You're my hero!"

So I went into my second round of chemo bolstered by the miracle that had just been presented to me. Allow me to backtrack for just a moment...I started the day off with one of the worst migraine headaches I've ever had. Let me tell you this is a very uncool way to go into chemo day. But the news from my doctor as well as a little help he gave me in the form of some migraine medicine through my port, made me feel better walking out of chemo than when I got there. I slept through all 4 1/2 hours of my chemo while sucking in six bags of medicine. I got up, drove myself home, and couldn't wait to share today's gift with my husband.

Oh, I have some additional good news. I got my initial genetic testing report back. My BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes tested negative for mutations. These two gene mutations are the most common ones associated with breast and ovarian cancer. This is fantastic news for my children and all women in my family. Should those genes test positive for mutation, that person's offspring have a 50/50 chance of getting breast cancer themselves. I'm breathing a sigh of relief for my two girls. There are more genetic tests being run on some of the less common gene mutations like the P10 gene that is linked to breast cancer in women and thyroid cancer in men. My father had thyroid cancer a handful of years ago, so this gene is of particular interest. However, we will not know the results of further testing for three months. For now, I count myself blessed.

Giving Thanks!

My Family
Many people have asked how my three precious children are doing during this huge change in all our lives. I have to say they sure are troopers! I was afraid once they saw my head shaved, the reality of it at would sink in and be extra tough on them. However, my kids are so resilient and they understand this is all part of what has to happen in the battle. It was a wise choice making this happen on Halloween. My daughter Maddie, who did not like it when my hair got cut above my shoulders a few months ago, was probably the most surprised. But she saw it, she took it in, she moved on...there was trick or treating to be had after all. Katie and Brody did just fine. What my kids gained in return, was the pet they've always wanted! My kids love to pet my baldy head. I think I'm gonna let them name it! Funny thing is that now they're learning about shedding. My hair is falling out in droves at this point so it's not going to be the soft pet-able fuzz buzz for long. Who knew we'd have pet care lessons tied into all this. Crazy that my kids' pet is slowly morphing from a cute and fuzzy short-hair to its current state as an unidentifiable mutt with mange eventually into one of those naked Sphynx cats or hairless Chihuahua's!

Scott is also handling this very well. He's been an amazing source of strength for me, and he's filling in where I need help on the days I'm not feeling so grand. It's a lot for anyone to take on, but he's doing it with grace and with strength, and I love him dearly for that.

So now it's time to give some SHOUT OUTS to others who deserve to be recognized!

Krista Krallman
I'll start off with one of my "breasties," Krista Krallman. She just got back from her one-year breast cancer survivor victory tour of the Bahamas. WOOT, WOOT!!!!!! I can't describe how important she is to me. She's the only one I know who has been through this breast cancer journey in similar fashion bringing a young family along for the ride. She has been expertly guiding me step-by-step, letting me know what to expect at every turn. The fear of the unknown is the worst, but I haven't had to deal with so much of that because Krista has been my light illuminating my path and chasing away much of the fear. I see how strong she is after making her way through her journey, and that gives me the strength to know that I can do it, too. When my kids were afraid and didn't know what breast cancer meant for mommy, I could point to a shining example of what can be. This made them feel immensely better. Last week, Krista accompanied me for a wig fitting at Cathy Halloran's Boutique in St. Elizabeth Hospital Crestview. Cathy is the most hilarious and outrageous breast cancer survivor you will ever meet. She started a non-profit organization called Chicks & Chucks to help breast cancer patients who can't help themselves. What a gift to have her in my life right now! If you need a good pee-your-pants kinda laugh, listen to the podcast on her website from a comedy show fundraiser she did a few years back at http://chicksandchucks.org. So, Krista, Cathy and I had a hooting good time at my wig fitting. Thank god Krista, the voice of reason, was there to talk me out of some catastrophic wig disasters. All I had to do was look at her face as I slapped those puppies on top of my noggin. Her expression spoke a thousand words! In the end, we found some good compromises. Nothing is ever going to look like my hair, but we did our best. This one did not make the cut:

Rock it out, Joan Jett!

Carrie Howell and Allison White
Carrie Howell pointed out to me on Facebook that I truly did forget one of the best moments of our head shaving trip on Halloween. This was the EPIC ROCK OUT to Katie Perry's ROAR on the way home. I'll let her describe it:

"I'm thinking Chemo Brain has already sunk in Heidi!!!!!  I read the updated blog and noticed you missed the BEST event of the WHOLE day - our ride home after the shave and "Roar" comes over the radio!  The three of us (with Allison White) sang/screamed that song soooo loud we were hoarse afterwards!  We had that car rockin' and rolling - literally with all our jumping and who-hollering!  It was a wonder the auto-windows still worked after all the rain coming in the car since we wanted to shout it out to the world what a warrior you are :)  Just maybe the wine had a little play in all our craziness, but still in my book, it rocked...and so do you!!  :)" -- Carrie Howell

Sorry about the new car, Brennan! Does it help if I tell you it was totally worth the jam session?!?! And here's the response from Allison White:

"THAT WAS AMAZING!!!! WE TOTALLY ROCKED, ROAR! WE SHOULD BE KATY'S BACKUP SINGERS!! LOVE YOU CRAZY LADIES!!!" -- Allison White

Here's my "breasties" before and after:

Allison White, Me with hair, Carrie Howell

Carrie Howell, Me sans hair, Allison White, Awesome Stylist Christy Honchell

Texas and Beyond
Now to all my beloved family and friends in Texas. I know we are miles and miles apart, but I feel your support and your strength every day. To my super besties Diane's Blair, Diane Sodolak, and Sarah Walls, thank you so much for all of the cards, gift cards, blankets, goodies, words of encouragement and love you have bestowed upon me and my family. Kristin Gleditsch Paetzel, what a beautiful care package you sent. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I will always love and admire you!!! To all my lady family members, my fabulous mom Kathleen Slater, my loving mother-in-law Cecilia Slansky, my spectacular sister Heather Mayo, and my fun and wild sister-in-laws Connie Reichardt, Kelly Slater, and Amanda Cendalski, thank you so much for the chemo package! I was, by far, the best outfitted in the chemo ward yesterday!!! So much comfort in a box! Thank you, daddy, for the beautiful flowers and book. I feel your love and strength daily. As a cancer survivor, I know you have a deeper understanding of what I am facing. And to my crazy brother, Stefan, who shaved his head in solidarity, not that you don't shave it all the time, but I do appreciate the particular shaving dedicated to me! Love you, Bunky!!! To my awesome newphews Colten and Clay who wore pink while playing football in my honor, I love you and can't wait to give you a big hug. Oh, and I have to thank my friend Bev Fritsch's son Clayton for adding my name to his pink football towel and taking me into battle with him. How awesome is that!!! And, finally, to so many across the country who have sent such loving support through cards, flowers and Facebook posts, I can't thank you enough. I pull such strength from your words of encouragement. I hope you know how much I love and adore you all!!!

North Pointe Elementary
To all my super supportive friends at North Pointe elementary, I couldn't do this without you! What a loving family. I cannot tell you how comforting it is knowing you are looking out for my little ones during this difficult time. Not only are you supporting them, but you are lifting me as well! Akrivi Watson and Julie Stewart, you are two of my favorite people on the Earth! There are many others in the North Pointe Family I don't know quite as well yet, but do so appreciate your kind words and support. It keeps me strong to keep up the fight! Julie Stewart and Andrea Smith even started a Premier Jewelry Party in my honor on Facebook with the help of crazy jewelry lady Krysta Wright. Click here to check it out: Link to the Jewelry Party. If you have trouble or are not on Facebook, you can visit krystawright.mypremierdesigns.com or call Krysta at 859-653-8126 or email her at bzmomma@twc.com. The access code is NOV00.

Parlor Grove
I also want to recognize some amazing folks from Parlor Grove who have been bringing such comforting food to us: Lori Mazzaro, Lorraine Buck, the Wagstaff's, Krista Krallman and Kelly Bloom's beautiful mother Helen Craven, the Howells, the Whites, and Katie and Jim McGuire who brought over homemade Sicilian and pesto sauces along with chicken lasagnas! Yum, yum!!!

Carrie, Krista, Kelly, and Allison. I thank you so much for all the kid watching and running and bus duty! I simply do not know how I would navigate this without you!

One final and special shout out for today. This one goes to my neighbor and friend Jena Buck Buckeye who is a freshman at Ohio State. She stepped in for me when I needed her the most to fill in as Katie's Girls on the Run running buddy. She has already run in the North Pointe Elementary 5K with Katie and will run in the big Girls on the Run race in downtown Cincinnati next weekend! Jena shows such wisdom and caring for one so young. Your Emma angel has got to be beaming with pride to have such an awesome big sister. We love you, Jena!

Jena Buck and Katie

Comments Welcome...Unless You're No Fun

Please feel free to post comments!!! I have my blog set so I have to approve comments first before they post...just trying to keep out the freaks, ya'll! If your comment doesn't post within about 24 hours try it again 'cause either something went wrong, or I've been too busy celebrating life to check for comments! Hugs to you all!

Shave It, Baby!!!

Allison White (front), Stylist Christy Honchell, Me, Carrie Howell (back)

We had more fun getting my head shaved on Halloween than should be legal! I was accompanied by two of my besties, Carrie Howell and Allison White, and a few bottles of wine. I sure missed my other besties on this special day, but there is much more fun to be had at a later date. I can guarantee that! So Carrie set this all up at her favorite hair place called Fusion Salon in Aurora, IN, with her completely awesome stylist, Christy Honchell. We started off with a little wine drinking...ok, maybe more than a little...and the entire salon joined in on our festivities. Everyone there was simply fantastic and made our experience so fun and memorable. Christy's sweet and sexy brother, Joey, even went on a wine run for us when our supplies ran low! You really had to be there to understand what a great time we had, but just imagine, if you will, a salon full of super fun, super thoughtful folks who lifted us all to make this the best chemo head shaving party ever!!! Hell, how many ladies get to make this drastic of a change on Halloween?!?! I'm a lucky one, I am, for so many reasons!!!

Is there a better way to go bald!

The Awesome Fusion Salon crew in Aurora, Indiana! Great gals!

Oh, Sexy Joey! Great job picking out wines!

Christy made me rock the baldy!

The After Look! Can you hear Sinead sing, "Nothing compares to you!"

Naming the Beast

I finally know what to call the breast, I mean "beast." I have Stage 3a Locally Advanced Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. How's that for a mouthful? I think I'll call it "LAID to 3rd Degree" because it's trying to give my body a royal screwing!!! I wasn't surprised it was staged as a three because of the size and lymph node involvement. The tumor is sized between 3-3.8 cm and has travelled into at least three of my lymph nodes as confirmed by biopsies on my left titty and lymph nodes. The cancer is a triple positive. That means it tested positive for estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors.

Typically with breast cancer, the doctors do the surgery first, then follow with chemo and radiation if necessary. Since my cancer is quite aggressive and has grown so big so fast, my doctors are kicking my treatment off with chemo first, followed by surgery then radiation. Because of the HER2+ status, I will be on Herceptin chemo for an entire year. I wish I could say that starting off with chemo was an effort to save my ta-tas, but it's really an effort to save my life. With advanced cancer they know has already travelled to the lymph nodes, they basically have to nuke your whole system in an effort to stop the progression to wherever else it may have spread. They just don't have any way of knowing where else it has travelled until a tumor gets big enough or symptoms appear. It's not as exact a science as I thought, unfortunately. Sweet, right! I don't think the choice of having a mastectomy is ultimately going to be mine, but that's ok because I've already decided I want them gone so I don't feel like a time bomb waiting for the next recurrence in my boobs. That part I can control a little.

My fight against breast cancer officially started Friday, October 18, 2013, when I took my first course of chemo and finally got to go on the attack. It had been exactly one month since my screening mammogram which is when they knew something wasn't quite right. I've gotten a mammogram every single year since I turned 38 (I'm now 41), and last year's was clear as can be. Go figger! I will take a round of chemo every 3 weeks for 6 cycles. This holds true for the toughest regiment of chemo I am getting which is a cocktail of Herceptin (aka Trastuzumab), Paraplatin (Carboplatin), and Taxotere (Doxetaxel). One round down, five to go! I'm holding out hope my next round of chemo will include a fourth medicine called Perjeta (Pertuzumab) which was just FDA approved in neoadjuvant breast cancer treatment for ladies like me with HER2+ receptors. I'm counting on this new treatment to improve the not so rosy recurrence rates that happen with my type of cancer. As I stated before, I'll take Herceptin for one year, but my hair will grow back while I'm on just that chemo.

The morning before I started chemo, I had surgery to install a Power Port (or port-o-cath) in my chest just under my right clavicle. It has a catheter attached which runs through my chest into the main vein right above the heart. It's a straight shot to the heart from there! It is through this port that I receive all my chemo and where they draw blood. It was pretty painful at first, but my body adapted well and now it's my new buddy. It will save wear and tear on the veins in my arms and for that I am grateful.

I'm ready for this fight, and thank goodness I worked so hard over the past two-and-a-half years to get healthy. This is when I need that strong body and mind I've been cultivating. It's my time to R-O-A-R!!!

Welcome to The Breast of Both Worlds

As many of you may know, writing always has been and always will be my therapy. It's how I celebrate joys, work through problems, and move forward by reporting then letting things fall out of my head. I'm starting this blog for two main reasons, the first of which is to share all of the often complex and easily misinterpreted information about my recently-diagnosed breast cancer. Second, this is where I will share my thoughts and musings then move past them to further the fight. But, if you also know me, this is where the seriousness ends. If I can't find something to laugh about, then I need more than my breasts examined!!!

I named my blog "The Breast of Both Worlds" because life is full of dichotomies that split our paths unexpectedly. I am on a new path started by some bad crap making its home in my ta-tas, but I plan to make the best of my life with breast cancer as I did before this beast became an unwelcome part of my life. I am determined to have the Breast of Both Worlds! Plus, my first two title options were already taken, so I had to make all that shit up for the sake of cohesion and continuity! Welcome to my blog!!!