cancer journey
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Healing
I am now two weeks post-op. Recovery is going well, albeit slower than I had anticipated. I continue to experience fatigue, lymphedema, and intermittent pain, but I am making progress, one day at a time. On the brighter side, all my scans have finally come back clear! And in an unexpected, almost unbelievable turn of… Continue reading
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One Year
Has it really been a year already? A year ago, I wrote about navigating doctors and referrals. The process had begun leading me toward a journey I never imagined I would have to take. Today, I find myself in good spirits, mainly because I have been able to run again. I just finished a 30-minute… Continue reading
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Strong Day
Enjoying my last strong day before beginning a new treatment tomorrow. I spent the day doing something simple…reading and relaxing. I finished The Wilder Way by Eva Zu Beck, a memoir about a woman who chooses to live life on her own terms, traveling the world and building an unconventional life as a travel journalist.… Continue reading
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Detour
In another version of this world, I’m probably preparing to head to Mongolia to take on the Gobi Desert March. Instead, I’m here preparing for a root canal that is delaying a second surgery while I wait for the final phase of treatment…. radiation. I’ve been away from running, and I’ll admit something that’s harder… Continue reading
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MRI
The second MRI was completed this afternoon—the one that will tell us whether the chemotherapy worked. What am I hoping for? A pathological complete response, or pCR: the absence of all invasive cancer cells in my tissue samples after neoadjuvant treatment. Achieving pCR indicates a strong response and is a key marker of improved long‑term… Continue reading
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Rebuild
The first phase of cancer treatment is complete: chemotherapy—fifteen weeks of it. Oncologists chose the neoadjuvant route, and now we wait for the scans to show how the cancer responded. Those results will determine the type of surgery and what comes next. I didn’t have much motivation to write during treatment. It felt like I… Continue reading
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The Club Reunion
By mail, this weekend, I received the Autumn 2025 Newsletter from the 50 States Marathon Club—Volume 24, Issue 3. I flipped to page four and found the column announcing Club Marathon Reunions. There it was: the first reunion of 2026, scheduled for February 1st in Jacksonville, Florida, at the Donna Finish Breast Cancer Marathon. I… Continue reading
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The Art Project
“Would you be interested in an art project today?” The woman approached my recliner just as the infusion bag emptied and the final flush began to drip. Her name tag identified her as a volunteer. She carried a clear tote filled with tiny craft supplies: small cotton balls, glitter, ribbon. She held up the finished… Continue reading
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Red Electrical Outlet
“Do you know what the orange electrical outlet stands for?” “I have no idea…though that looks more red than orange, don’t you think?” I replied to my husband as we sat in the doctor’s office waiting on the results of my latest labs. “There’s a red switch too. Let’s find out,” he said, already pulling… Continue reading
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Third Day
Day 3 has been the toughest. I sit here typing, shivering beneath a multicolored yarn blanket my mom knitted many years ago. My husband is in the far corner of the room, laptop open, headphones on…..present, steady, in his own quiet lane. I kept my routine nutrition plan and completed my 45-minute outdoor workout. I… Continue reading
