Of Dragons and Garden Peas: A Cancer Patient Talks to Doctors
I came across this essay after reading a lovely book - "About Alice". The essay was written by Alice Trillin, a writer, producer, and lung cancer survivor of 25 years. The essay was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 304(12), pp. 699–701, March 19, 1981.
I found the essay to be beautifully written, perfectly describing the cancer experience. It should be required reading for all doctors and caregivers.
Here's a link to it:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16344411/Of-Dragons-Garden-Peas
Enjoy!
Marcia (bejuce)
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ER+ (30%)/PR-/HER-2+, stage 3
Diagnosed on 02/18/09 at 38 with a huge 12x10 cm tumor, after a 6 month delay. Told I was too young and had no risk factors. Found swollen node during breastfeeding.
March-August 09: neo-adjuvant chemo, part of a trial at Stanford (4 DD A/C, 4 Taxotere with daily Tykerb), loading dose of Herceptin
08/12/09 - bye bye boobies (bilateral mastectomy)
08/24/09 - path report shows 100 % success in breast tissue (no cancer there, yay!), 98 % success in lymphatic invasion, and even though 11/13 nodes were still positive, > 95 % of the tumor in them was killed. Hoping for the best!
September-October 09: rads with daily Xeloda
02/25/10 - Cholecystectomy
05/27/10 - Bone scan clear
06/14/10 - CT scan clear, ovarian cyst found
07/27/10 - Done with Herceptin!
02/15/11 - MVA-BN HER-2 vaccine trial
03/15/11 - First CA 15-3: 12.7 and normal, yay!
10/01/11 - Bone scan and CT scan clear, fatty liver found
now on Tamoxifen and Aspirin
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