“Janelle, you have breast cancer. Would you like to have chemotherapy, radiation, or a mastectomy?” Every word beyond, “You have breast cancer,” was a blur. It was 1980 when little information was given to patients about such medical conditions. While I was in the hospital having a hysterectomy, my doctor performed a biopsy on a […]
Tag: breast cancer
Tricia’s Breast Cancer Diary (1 – New Diagnosis)
I Am Second
Many people have asked me to share the story of how my faith in God helped me face breast cancer as a young woman 30 years ago. That faith has become the sustaining strength of my life. Over the years, when something bad happened to me, instead of dwelling on it, I have always tried […]
Having a Bad Egg Day
2010 was a master year of cooking for me until the last stretch when I faced a culinary meltdown. We discovered our oven wasn’t working one night when we had company over for dinner. Our pizza came out of the oven burned on the top and undercooked on the bottom. But, that was not the […]
Mammograms Can Reveal More Than Breast Cancer
Your health and long life can depend on early detection. Can mammograms detect more than breast cancer? Women are always asking me about calcifications and how they relate to their health. Here are some interesting statistics that may give us insight through mammograms into our future health. Mammogram: Heart Predictor? by Ann Lukits Wall Street […]
Can the Risk of Breast Cancer be Determined Through Breast Milk?
If mammography screening is our most valid test for the early detection of breast cancer, could there be additional indicators that help women know if they are at risk? Early research indicates that breast milk may hold clues as to whether or not women are at risk for developing breast cancer. Dr. Kathleen Arcaro states in […]
Breast Cancer Rates No Longer Declining
After a sharp decline in breast cancer rates between 2002 and 2003 among non Hispanic white women in the US, overall breast cancer rates did not change significantly between 2003 and 2007. These results were published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, …
Halaven Improves Survival with Metastatic Breast Cancer
Among women with previously treated, locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer, treatment with the chemotherapy drug Halaven™ (eribulin mesylate) improved overall survival by 2.5 months. The results of this Phase III clinical trial were published in The Lancet. Metastatic breast …
Mammography Less Accurate for Detection of Second Cancers
Among women with a personal history of breast cancer, mammography can detect second cancers at an early stage, but may be less accurate than among women who have never had breast cancer. These results were published in the Journal of …
Obesity Linked with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Women who are obese and not physically active may be more likely than other women to develop triple negative breast cancer (breast cancer that is estrogen receptor negative, progesterone receptor negative, and HER2 negative). These results were published in Cancer …