We like to say in cancerland that it is the shittiest club with the best of members. You do meet some tremendous humans through this experience. However, the hard part in all of this is that it’s cancer after all. And sometimes people die. This was one of these weeks. Today’s blog is about the …
breast cancer
What to Expect at Your First Chemotherapy Appointment
I had four rounds of chemotherapy over a 12-week timeframe as part of my breast cancer treatment plan. Like Catherine, the Princess of Wales, it was deemed to be preventative. After surgery, pathology showed that the cancer had snuck into two of my left side sentinel nodes and showed signs it was on the move …
Canada’s Task Force Disappoints Canadian Women and Experts with Refusal to Change Screening Guidelines
Last week, the Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care announced that it would be standing firm on its guidance that breast screening in Canada begin at age 50. In a symbolic gesture and a small win for those who vehemently oppose this decision, the Task Force did state that women in their 40s should …
Why I Wrote My Book Flat Please, Hold the Shame
The entire AskEllyn brand began with my book FLAT PLEASE. Here’s the story behind the story. I was shattered when I received my diagnosis of breast cancer. It was something that happened to other women, not to me. In the four weeks I waited for my biopsy and surgical consult I estimate I lost close …
Interested in Women’s Health and Patient Advocacy? Here are Two Books I Highly Recommend
I love to read and I’m a voracious reader. I mostly love fiction and can always get behind a good bodice ripper or beach read, I am from time to time drawn to non-fiction works to expand my rapidly shrivelling 59-year-old brain. Now that I find myself a bit of a women’s health crusader and …