Tag Archives: vulnerability

The Road to Ruin

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Scorchy

I have been blessed with relatively good health all of my life. I did go some years without health insurance as a professional student, but I came through that okay. The closest I came to chronic disease was reading about … Continue reading →

Posted in Finances, My Stage IV Life, Stage IV Musings | Tagged advocacy, awareness, breast cancer, co-pays, expenses, friends, frustration, health insurance, Information resources, insurance, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, pain management, pink ribbon, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, support, Treatment, vulnerability | 27 Comments

The Whole Chronic Thing

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Scorchy

When I was first diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, I wanted a second opinion. It wasn’t that I thought another physician would tell me that I was fine, I just wanted to hear another take on the whole thing. So … Continue reading →

Posted in My Stage IV Life, Social Commentary, Stage IV Musings | Tagged advocacy, awareness, breast, breast cancer, breasts, Cancer Culture, chronic, chronic disease, Diagnosis, frustration, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, Philosophy, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, stigma, Treatment, vulnerability | 34 Comments

After the Crisis, Ambiguity

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Scorchy

Since August I have been struggling to write. Writer’s block would be the easy explanation. But as reality has it, there is so much more going on. For the first year of my diagnosis I scorched Earth with my posts. … Continue reading →

Posted in Career Conundrums, My Stage IV Life, Stage IV Musings | Tagged ambiguity, anger, breast, breast cancer, Cancer Culture, career, co-pays, denial, Diagnosis, finances, Letrozole, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, oncologist, optimism, pain management, pink ribbon, retirement, retirement savings, scan, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, support, Treatment, vulnerability, writer's block | 41 Comments

A New Life of Accommodation

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Scorchy

It has been a few months beyond a year that I started blogging. And to tell you the truth, it’s been a little difficult for me to get back into the swing after my latest hiatus. Blogging has been the … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, My Stage IV Life | Tagged accommodation, advocacy, awareness, being alone, being single, breast cancer, cancer, disability benefits, friends, human resources, Information resources, long term disability benefits, Lyrica, Marcus Aurelius, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, Methadone, normalcy, Oxycodone, OxyContin, pain management, stigma, support, Treatment, vulnerability | 37 Comments

Kobayashi Maru

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Scorchy

My latest paincation was intense and it was made more so by the experience of radiation. Now, like most things in this disease I was fortunate: only five consecutive days and maybe twenty minutes of my time each day. But … Continue reading →

Posted in My Stage IV Life, Stage IV Musings | Tagged advice for patient, anxiety, breast cancer, breasts, cancer cell, career, Diagnosis, fear, friends, frustration, health, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, pain management, psychiatrist, Radiation, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, support, the machine, Treatment, Varian, vulnerability, Xanax | 42 Comments

Purple Haze

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Scorchy

This is what my knitting looks like these days: Knit 4, yarn over 1, knit two together, knit 23, Yarn Over 1, Knit 8 . . . oh wait knit SEVEN! Okay, unknit 1. Now continue . . . knit … Continue reading →

Posted in My Stage IV Life, Stage IV Musings | Tagged awareness, breast cancer, knitting, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, Methadone, Oxycodone, pain, pain management, Radiation, side-effects, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, talking in sleep, Treatment, vulnerability | 40 Comments

Emergency Room

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Scorchy

It has been awhile since I have posted. I apologize for my silence; you can probably reason that it takes quite a bit to shut me up. And you would be right. But this paincation has been particularly brutal. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, My Stage IV Life, Stage IV Musings | Tagged advocacy, alone, breast cancer, Cigna, constipation, emergency contact, friends, impacted bowel, invisibility, invisible, invisible patient, Letrozole, Lupron, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, Methadone, nerve ablation, nerve block, nuclear constipation, Oxycodone, pain, pain management, pain scale, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, support, Tamoxifen, Treatment, Twitter, Valium, vulnerability | 72 Comments

Seeing Stars

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Scorchy

There’s a popular saying among knitters: “I knit so I don’t kill people.” Over the past two months I’ve been saying “I knit so I don’t kill myself.” This paincation has been brutal–thus my prolonged absence from the blogosphere. When … Continue reading →

Posted in My Stage IV Life, Stage IV Musings | Tagged bone metastasis, breast cancer, knitting, Letrozole, lytic lesion, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, MRI, nerve ablation, Oxycodone, pain, pain management, Paincation, PET/CT, Radiation, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, Tamoxifen, Treatment, vulnerability | 67 Comments

Cancer is Hard When You’re Alone

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Scorchy

I sure do love historical analysis–as you have no doubt observed if you’ve read The Sarcastic Boob with any regularity. Breast cancer is a fascinating subject and fits right into my love of knowledgeable discourse. The implications of gender and … Continue reading →

Posted in My Stage IV Life, Stage IV Musings | Tagged alone, breast, breast cancer, depression, frustration, metastasis, metastatic breast cancer, pain, pain management, Stage IV, stage iv breast cancer, stigma, support, Tamoxifen, Treatment, vulnerability | 93 Comments

Harmonic Convergence

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Scorchy

When the planets align in the breast cancer universe things get interesting. It has been an unprecedented four-five weeks. The first planet to get into position was that of oral arguments delivered to the Supreme Court of the United States … Continue reading →