• brown wooden welcome wall decor
    Welcome

    Hello and welcome!

    November 25, 2025

    Welcome to my blog space dedicated to sharing my experience with inflammatory breast cancer and the changes it has made in my life. It sounds silly, but despite the obviously troubling downside, most of the change has been for the better. Or to quote from Wicked, “I have been changed… for good.” And I’m learning a lot along the way, about cancer, about the system, and about myself. I hope you find what you’re looking for here. Whether you’re a friend or colleague wanting to check in to see how things are going, or maybe you’re going through something similar…

  • Diagnosis & Treatment

    Surgery

    February 28, 2025

    The plan was for surgery to remove the tumour and cancerous lymph nodes to be done in Surrey. I had a connection with the surgeon there (who is the department lead and also did my mum’s surgery) and also with a reconstruction plastic surgeon. But the dates available were all at a surgical day care centre, and because of my low heart function it really needed to be done at an acute care hospital with an overnight stay. Lucky, lucky me… the surgeon I was originally referred to in Victoria was able to find me a closer date. So on…

  • Diagnosis & Treatment

    RSV and Heart Failure

    January 28, 2025

    Between chemo cycles five and six, I checked into ER for a fever that turned out to be RSV. It wasn’t serious and I was recovering nicely by the time treatment six rolled around. But near the end of the treatment I started coughing and my O2 sats went down to 80% (they checked to make sure the machine wasn’t broken) which earned me another trip to the ER and from there to the ICU. I spent four days over Christmas in the Surrey Hospital ICU until I could reliably rest without needing O2 support to keep my sats up.…

  • Diagnosis & Treatment

    Time to get the show on the road – in Surrey and Vancvouer

    October 28, 2024

    A safe port in the storm – Mum and Dad September 2024 was the start of a flurry of positive action. To my very great relief the chemotherapy treatments started right away, with a long list of appointments and tests in the weeks that followed. All of these required ferry trips from my home on Vancouver Island to the BC Cancer Centre in the suburbs of Vancouver which made for a lot of traveling. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my parents for welcoming me into their home for overnight stays when required. Who says you can’t move…

  • Diagnosis & Treatment

    Mum’s breast cancer is my best chance for help

    August 26, 2024

    For this to make any sense, I have to back track just a wee bit. You see, by oddest of coincidences my mother, who lives in Surrey, BC, was also diagnosed with breast cancer right around the same time as I was. Her cancer is not the same as mine, and it was caught early enough that she was offered (and gladly accepted) surgery nearly right away. She then had to wait some time before seeing her oncologist. So while I was enduring the agonizing wait to see the surgeon in Victoria, fearing that she wasn’t even going to be…

  • Diagnosis & Treatment

    When will anyone take my cancer seriously?

    August 7, 2024

    I received an appointment to see a surgeon three weeks after receiving my breast cancer diagnosis. It felt like a very long time to wait, given the size and rapid rate of change of the tumour. But my GP assured me that everything that should be done was being done. The referral was labeled “urgent” but that’s all she was able do. She was empathetic, and said that the hardest part of everyone’s cancer journey is waiting for information and treatment, when it feels like nothing is happening. She was definitely correct about that. One dismal night, I was searching…

  • Diagnosis & Treatment

    How a major health scare can turn out to be more healing than you’d ever imagine

    July 25, 2024

    FINDING BREAST CANCER June 18th, 2024. That date is etched in my mind. It’s the day I noticed a change in my breast and thought, “Uh oh, this could be bad.” And so began my journey through breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and my continuing recovery. The photo above is my happiest place on earth. The Alders Beach where we have stayed on holiday for a week or two every year since my daughter was born. The place where my son learned to walk. Where kids play for hours without screens, and parents read or visit. Where nature is close, time…

  • magnetic resonance imaging machine
    Diagnosis & Treatment

    Diagnosis

    July 25, 2024

    About 10 days after first noticing the change in my breast, I decided it was time to seek help from my GP. She couldn’t offer me an appointment until six weeks later, despite my describing it as not so much a lump as really a good 2/3 – 3/4 of the breast. I dithered for another few weeks, hoping it might be just an infection or fluid blockage. The end of June happened to be busy with a few other momentus events to distract me! By the end of July I decided I needed to be seen as soon as…