Tag Archives: support

Past Tense

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Scorchy

The paperwork is in. Fifty pages compiled by four people and faxed to two insurance companies. Disability. I didn’t want to do it. Indeed, for two years I fought hard to crawl my way back to who I was. I can hardly … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, My Stage IV Life, Social Commentary, Stage IV Musings, Uncategorized | Tagged advocacy, breast cancer, Cancer Culture, career, Diagnosis, fear, friends, Information resources, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, pain management, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, support, vulnerability | 45 Comments

STFU

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Scorchy

So I’ve been attempting to write post after post after post, inevitably trashing them all. I tried one on depression, one on anxiety, one on pink. Whatever I tried it just never worked. And I have to say that through … Continue reading →

Posted in My Stage IV Life, Social Commentary, Stage IV Musings | Tagged "cure rates", anxiety, Attitude, awareness, Beyond the Pink Moon, boredom, boring, breast, breast cancer, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Cancer Culture, cancer loop, Cancertown, career, Diagnosis, Exemestane, Facebook, fear, friends, frustration, knitting, Komen, Lyrica, MBC, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, OxyContin, Philosophy, pink ribbon, Pinktober, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, STFU, stigma, strong, support, TODAY, Treatment, vulnerability, whiney | 61 Comments

Open Letter to Joan Lunden

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Scorchy

I want to thank Joan Lunden and the people of TODAY of putting the spotlight, however brief, on metastatic breast cancer–the one that no one talks about. A link to the TODAY spot is below. http://www.joanlunden.com/category/35-breast-cancer/item/453-today-show-pinkpower-day-3 Dear Ms. Lunden, You are … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Breast Cancer PSAs, Breastploitation, My Stage IV Life | Tagged advocacy, Attitude, awareness, bald, breast, breast cancer, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, breasts, Diagnosis, frustration, hair loss, hair loss due to cancer, Information resources, Joan Lunden, Media, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, October, pink ribbon, Pinktober, Politics, Research, stage iv breast cancer, support, TODAY, TODAY show, Treatment | 39 Comments

Remission

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Scorchy

The Catch-22 of having metastatic breast cancer is this: when you’re caught in a period of crisis all you hope for is that your scans will improve, the pain will lessen or go away, your energy will return, and that … Continue reading →

Posted in My Stage IV Life | Tagged Attitude, awareness, breast cancer, breasts, cancer cell, Cancer Culture, career, Catch-22, Diagnosis, Exemestane, exhaustion, friends, frustration, Humor, knitting, Lupron, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, pain management, PET/CT, Philosophy, remission, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, support, Tamoxifen, Treatment, vulnerability, Xgeva | 40 Comments

Released from Prison

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Scorchy

Where the hell have I been these past few months? Well, ever since my last episode with radiation of a painful bone tumor in my sacrum, I seem to have misplaced my voice. It could likely be lost among my yarn stash, but … Continue reading →

Posted in My Stage IV Life | Tagged breast cancer, breasts, career, compartmentalization, denial, depression, friends, frustration, guilt, knitting, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, pain, pain management, pain. chronic pain, prison, scan, self-worth, social life, socialization, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, stigma, support, Treatment, vulnerability | 20 Comments

Upcoming Conferences for Those with Metastatic Breast Cancer

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Scorchy

Two upcoming conferences offer the potential of real benefit for women and men with breast cancer, and also to their caregivers, friends, and families. Registration is now open for Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s Eighth Annual Conference for Women Living with Metastatic … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, My Stage IV Life, Stage IV Musings | Tagged advocacy, April, Attitude, awareness, breast cancer, Cancer Culture, confe, Eighth Annual Conference for Those Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer and Caregivers, Eighth Annual Conference for Women Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer, fellowship, Information resources, LBBC, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer network, registration, September, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, support, travel grants | 2 Comments

Jinxed

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Scorchy

I have another lytic lesion in my sacrum. When I saw the picture from my routine PET/CT it looked like the Eye of Mordor. The circle of the body was bright orange and there on the left, on the sacrum, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, My Stage IV Life, Social Commentary | Tagged 30%, @Judy_KomenCEO, @SusanGKomen, advocacy, Attitude, Biopsy, bone metastasis, breast cancer, Cancer Culture, Elephant in the Pink Room, Exemestane, Eye of Mordor, Information resources, jinx. jinxed, Komen, Letrozole, lytic lesion, Mammogram, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, metastatic disease, metastatic research, Metavivor, PET/CT, Philosophy, pink ribbon, Research, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, superstition, superstitious, support, Susan G. Komen, Susan G.Komen for the Cure, Varian | 30 Comments

Facepalm

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Scorchy

You all know my feelings about Susan G. Komen (see my commentary here, here, and here). And it has always been puzzling to me that a woman whose sister supposedly died of breast cancer that metastasized would establish an organization … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Breast Cancer PSAs, Breastploitation, Social Commentary, Stage IV Musings | Tagged #talkpink, @SusanGKomen, advocacy, Attitude, avarice, awareness, BOYCOTT, breast cancer, Cancer Culture, greed, hubris, Information resources, Jonathan Blum, Kohl's, Komen, met, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, Metavivor, OCCUPY, pink ribbon, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, support, Susan G.Komen for the Cure | 9 Comments

One Must Occupy It

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Scorchy

As a result of social media pressure, Kohl’s has finally reached out to METAvivor. As they open a dialog we must continue to apply the pressure. Continue tweeting because all of your tweets have an extensive reach. Every tweet … Continue reading →