catkins

All of a sudden there are catkins on the trees here. And little green shoots. And a little bit more light each day. Almost 3 yrs out from diagnosis, and life is pretty darn good. I am so grateful. So far, so good. Oh, and bone scan on the last day of 09? All clear! Pretty darn happy here.

progress

The weight loss ticker at the right is malfunctioning, but I just had to share: I just weighed in at night at the same morning weight I had last week. And my night weight is 2 – 3 lbs heavier than my morning weight, which means that the 2 lb weight loss from last week is sticking. My goal was only 1 – 1.5 lbs per week, but it seems to be going faster than that. I’ll take it!

My daily plate

Am really thankful for the LiveStrong Foundation’s “My Daily Plate” nutrient counter: today I had 1530 calories, and 51 grams of fat. And that was a day with what I felt like was a lot of food. Was bummed that there was dairy in my chicken tandoori. And who knew that the salt content of prawns was sky high? Overall, digestion felt pretty good though. Onwards.

uphill

It’s time to lose the 25+ lbs that packed on during radiation. Hence the weight loss ticker on the right. First step: accurate scale (done). Second step: athletic shoes.

a love letter to my liver (or, fatty liver after breast cancer treatment)

Oh liver, why so gray? The other organs bounce bright white light around the C/T screen, but you, you sit there with fat throughout, listless. 

bart saga part 4

So apparently the note in the file re: family history of ovarian cancer was “either uterine or ovarian cancer”  which is why it wasn’t reported

the brca BART saga, continued

So, I contacted Myriad to actually get the criteria for the BART, and this time was told that I would need two relatives with breast cancer under age 50 or ovarian cancer at any age.  My response: Check!  Got those.

Myriad’s BRCA 5-site rearrangement panel does NOT include BART

The answer to my question a few days ago is: No.  Myriad Lab’s brca 5-site rerrangement panel does NOT include the BART (BRACAnalysis® Rearrangement Test). 

Does the BRCA 5-site rearrangement panel include BART testing?

My medical geekiness showed its colors today.  Last night, at the Young Survivors Sunday Starbucks group an amazing guest speaker mentioned the BART test for those who had tested BRCA negative.  So, I dug out my trusty notebook of lab results, flipped to the genetics section and found my Mar 2007 “Comprehensive BRACAnalysis.”  It lists the testing done as a “5-site rearrangement panel.”

Even with the technical specs, I can’t tell if this includes the BART or not.

rearranging life after cancer

Cancer rearranges life.  The people who go through chemo with us are not necessarily the people who are with us afterwards.  There’s a tendency with any big change in someone’s life to want them to go back to who they always were, but those big experiences – they change us.  And our friends don’t always change with us.