I have missed writing immensely. The reason I took a writing hiatus is that I am with my son in Colombia for an extended and a very needed, trip home. If you had asked me a couple of years ago
When I was 17, I wanted to become a mom at age 25. When I was 25, I was still pursuing an education and working towards a career. When I was finally ready to be a mother, I had a miscarriage and, shortly
Phase 4 consisted of taking a drug called Tamoxifen for 5 years. This medication is the usual anti-estrogen therapy for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in pre-menopausal women (it can also be the standard for post-menopausal women). Tamoxifen or T-fen (as
During one of my check-ups, a genetic counselor came to talk to me about genetic testing. Young women with breast cancer have an increased risk of having a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are human genes that produce
Phase 3 was radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT. In preparation for this phase, I had to get a picture taken so that all technologists would recognize me in the waiting area. I also had to
A few months after my miscarriage my ex and I moved from the city to a suburb of Boston. We wanted more space and we planned to start a family. A month or two after we had moved in, a
I kept thinking about ways to help other young women recently diagnosed with breast cancer so I dug up this snail mail letter from an oncologist at Dana Farber. Her specialty is breast cancer in young women. She ran a
During Phase 2 I felt a little bit more tired and fatigued. I felt that chemotherapy was taking a toll on my body. I started to present symptoms of peripheral neuropathy – tingling and numbness sensation on my hands and
I am lucky to have survived. Part of that wasn’t really luck at all. It was the support I had around – not only from D and his family but from mine as well. My family lives in Barranquilla, Colombia
I want to preface this post by saying that this is my version of things, my perspective. I understand and respect that my ex-husband would have his own version. He is a great person. This post explores my feelings during