I’m in my Room With a View at the NIH. I’m eating peanut M and M’s and watching “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” with 10 minutes of commercials, even though I own the DVD. I have, so far, come through the first component of my new CRLX101 trial unscathed. I feel positively unscathed!V As promised, it’s…
Chapter II
In September of 2013, doctors diagnosed me with a malignant 5cm mass, discovered during a regularly-scheduled MRI (which I have as part of my follow-up from a 2001-2002 breast cancer battle). After surgery and tests, I learned that I had thymic carcinoma -- a rare and fast-growing cancer of the Thymus gland. Usually, it’s not diagnosed until it’s already spread to the lungs, heart, or other places, because it can be fairly symptomless. I was blessed, as my oncologist said, that my regular MRIs helped catch it early. My outlook would have been much worse if this had been discovered months later.
I am documenting my journey through Cancer Part II in the hopes that it will educate and inspire others who are facing a difficult diagnosis. In the days after I left the hospital, I sat down with my colleagues at Growing Bolder to share my thoughts on this new challenge. As we say -- I am Surviving & Thriving.
Wherever Flux is, I am deep in it.
Where was I? I have sat down to write an update a half dozen times in the last few weeks, but I would have had to update the update a half dozen times, sometimes daily. I’m in the washout period between trials and actually feel a little better every day. It’s been more than two…
There’s a Game of Jenga at the Fork
It’s true. Strategerizing my way forward now is starting to feel like Cancer Care Jenga. Jenga is the game where you build a tower of wooden blocks, then, with thoughtful consideration (or not), pull the blocks out one at a time and restack them on top until the whole thing comes tumbling down. One decision…
Oh Look, Another Fork in the Road**
I’ve stared at this blank page (before I finally started writing on it) for three days now. I always (until tonight) write my title first, then meander through the body of my post, sprinkling pictures along the way, kind of like Blogpost Tinkerbell. But I am roadblocked at a title, because I can’t decide how…
The In-Between
Where have I been, you ask? It’s been seven weeks since my last update, right after Pelotonia, which was right after I found out that “stable” sometimes doesn’t mean “stable.” You may remember that my clinical trial closed, meaning that now I only return to Georgetown every 3 months and don’t have to have labs…
What a Difference 8022 Bikes Make (or One, When it’s yours.)
He rolled up around mile 60 of the first day and asked about my Pelotonia jersey, which reads “SURVIVOR” on the back. “When?” he asked. I responded, “The first time was in 2001. The second was around four years ago, and I’m working on number 3.” I can still get that heartbeat of surprise and…