Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog

                   ...Be prepared.            About a year ago, I came home and surprised a burglar. I posted my experience on Facebook an d o ne of my fellow lung cancer ninja friends, Lisa Goldman, commented:  " Oy. I'm sorry Luna . I'm always kind of taken aback when regular crappy stuff happens to us. It feels like a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis should render us immune to any other shit. "   I know Lisa knows how it feels to juggle the ups and downs of life while dealing with serious cancer.  At that time, I couldn't have agreed with her more, but now...at least for today, I feel differently.       Two years ago I had a downhill skiing accident and partially tore my right anterior cruciate ligament, (ACL).  I realized after the accident that I hadn't prepared myself for skiing that year.  In th...

     Since being diagnosed with cancer, (over 4 years ago), I've had follow-up CT scans and brain MRIs on a regular schedule.  Initially, the CT scans were every 3 months.  Overtime, as we (my oncologist and I) gained confidence in my targeted chemotherapy's ability to control my cancer, we extended the time interval between scans. At first I was able to talk my oncologist into spacing scans 4 months a part , and eventually to every 6 months .   Managing cancer means being exposed to agents I hadn't had in the past - chemicals, radiation, radioactive materials, and magnetic fields.  There's no way around it.  So, I really appreciate being exposed to 50% less radiation with CT scans every 6 months instead of every 3.        There are, however , negatives to less frequent scanning.  As confident as I want to be in the ability of my targeted chemotherapy to continue to keep my cancer suppressed, whenever I fee...