Ashe Kills Cancer

Tag: Surgery

  • Lingering Side Effects

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    When it comes to treating cancer, the focus tends to be on side effects that will happen during treatment. And with good reason — chemo has intense side effects and radiation, while not as intense, does have side effects as well. There is less focus, however, on the side effects that can linger long after…

  • Education Session, Chemo Haul, Port Placement Surgery and Impending Chemotherapy

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    I feel like I’m so behind on my updates! Let me catch you up on everything. The Education Session Our chemo education session was on Friday, November 1. It was initially scheduled as an in-person appointment with the oncologist’s nurse practitioner (NP), but she was at home with COVID, so the office called me to…

  • I Cut Off My Hair and Finally Removed My Surgical Glue (With Photos)

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    Today I did something I do infrequently because it takes so much energy and causes me pain — I showered! But before that, I buzzed my hair off. Hair What began as a casual consideration became almost a compulsion. Get rid of my hair before chemo has a chance. “You want to take my hair?…

  • Updated Appointment Schedule (Including First Chemo Session)

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    Happy Halloween and Merry Samhain, loves! 🎃 Instead of partaking in festivities, I’m researching what kind of stuff I’ll need to have for chemotherapy and starting to search for those things on Amazon to put in my cart. I’ll probably end up with quite the chemo haul. 😆 I scheduled my port placement surgery and…

  • Two Weeks Since Surgery, One Week Until We Know About Chemo (With Photos)

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    Today is officially two weeks since my partial mastectomy (lumpectomy), so I thought I should post an update. Following the advice of my surgeon, I’ve done my best to refrain from moving my right shoulder for the past five days. I’ve kept my right arm in a sling except when I needed to work (on…

  • HER2 Status, Surgical Follow-Up and Heart Rate Update

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    The biggest news of the day is perhaps that the results of the reevaluation of my HER2 status (the HER2 FISH test) came in today and nothing has changed! I’m still considered HER2 negative, which is a relief. Also today I had a follow-up appointment with my surgeon. She says I’m healing well! I do…

  • Increased Heart Rate While Recovering From Surgery

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    I wear a Polar arm band that tracks my heart rate throughout the day and equates it to exertion in an app called Visible that lives on my phone. I do this because I have ME/CFS and POTS, both of which are energy-limiting chronic illnesses. The app uses a tool called “PacePoints” that converts exertion…

  • The Surgeon’s Notes About My Partial Mastectomy (Lumpectomy)

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    Glancing through the online portal associated with my cancer surgeon, I found a report called “Operative Notes.” The report includes details from surgery — things that I didn’t know, of course, because I was under anesthesia during the procedure — like an itemized list of the specimens that were removed from my body and sent…

  • Surgical Pathology Results

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    I received the pathology results from my surgery a couple of hours ago. I didn’t expect them so soon, but I’m always glad to have more information about my cancer. Firstly, and possibly most important in the moment, all the tumor margins appear clear of any cancer cells. So, that is great news! That should…

  • Bandage Removal Day! (With Photos)

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    Once 48 hours passed, it was time to remove the binder and bandages and replace them with more permanent garments. I was counting down the minutes until I could remove them because they were making me so very itchy! I was prepared for my right breast to appear a bit mangled, but it still weirds…