Sex is Different after a Mastectomy
There is something wonderful about having breasts. Not just how they look, but how they feel when they are yours. The brush of your partner’s skin against them when you are intimate is exhilarating and not only enhances the sexual experience, but often is a main contributor to the pleasure of sex for many women. For a lot of women, losing a breast through a mastectomy truly reduces the sexual experience. When I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer to be honest, sex didn’t even cross my mind. It wasn’t until after the mastectomy that the realization of how far breast cancer impacted my life became apparent.
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Source: Life with Breast Cancer - July 30, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
Trying to mix Sun, Fun and a Mastectomy
When we hit the summer months, I am so grateful for having had reconstruction surgery. The logistics of living with prosthetic breasts can only be learned by those who have lost a breast or two. Most people can’t imagine all the problems that crop up when you try to compensate for the missing body part.
The first summer after chemotherapy ended was a lesson in the difficulty of trying to hide a mastectomy. I had battled all winter and spring just trying to keep a foam insert in my bra. I did eventually get a rubber prosthetic breast that worked great in a bra under a shirt or sweater, but I soon learned that re...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - July 15, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
Dealing with the threat of Cancer from Treatment
I am essentially “cancer free”. This fall will be the 10 year anniversary of my stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis. My feeling is that once we battle cancer we need to stay vigilant. Like any formidable enemy, cancer is continuing to lurk in the shadows. I have begun to take this threat more seriously due to the loss of my father to chemotherapy related leukemia – called Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), 10 years after he went into remission from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Treatment related cancers are always a threat to those victorious over the disease. In addition to AML, there is also another leukemia call...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - July 3, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
Calling on Melissa Etheridge to Recant Her Comments on Jolie
Musician Melissa Etheridge recently said Jolie’s decision to have a double mastectomy, after learning she was BRCA positive, was done out of fear, not bravery. While I admire how Etheridge publicly battled her own diagnosis with breast cancer – and her willingness to show her bald head on stage – I am horrified that she degraded Jolie’s decision. As a breast cancer survivor, I truly pray that other women won’t have to share the same diagnosis and battle that I did, and I am saddened that Etheridge doesn’t understand the huge risk BRCA is to those who carry the gene mutation.
Brave by definition, accordi...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - June 24, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
The Promise of Death
My mother is dying. For her it is a slow and peaceful process. For me it is a painful one as I see her retreat more and more into another place where I can’t follow or find her. She is comfortable and pain-free and well taken care of; all the things anyone would want for a loved one in these circumstances. Still, she is my mother and I am struggling with letting go.
She lived up to her married name of Elizabeth Taylor. Like the star whose name she shares, she was always so vibrant and beautiful, the star of every family holiday and the catalyst of most of the family drama. Surprisingly, being calm and peaceful suits h...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - May 30, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
Thank You Angelina Jolie
I have been blogging for seven years about the BRCA mutation and genetic testing and have personally counseled numerous women about their options for dealing with the mutation. I am only one among many and there are dedicated websites to the BRACA discussion all over the web. Regardless of all that effort, no one will ever do for women diagnosed with the BRCA what Angelina Jolie did this week by openly talking about her decision to have a double mastectomy. Most women put off having the test even if they suspect a familial link and the decision to lose both breasts is not an easy one.
Jolie is no doubt one of the most fam...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - May 16, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
Assessing damage from chemotherapy
To refuse chemotherapy for breast cancer is tantamount to suicide. Very few people who have been diagnosed with stage 2 or greater have survived the disease without aggressive treatment. Having said that however, I am well aware of the lasting and detrimental effects of chemotherapy drugs. Every day I feel those effects; my joints hurt, my brain dysfunctions and my eyesight waivers. What else has been done to my organs and other bodily systems I can only guess.
While my oncologist continues to monitor me for recurrence or metastasis from the original breast cancer, blood tests will alert us to changes in my blood or mar...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - May 9, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
Enjoy your Coffee and Fight Breast Cancer
I started drinking coffee because of breast cancer. After treatment I knew my brain wasn’t functioning quite as acutely as before the diagnosis, so coffee gave me the added ability to focus. I later learned that coffee was helping to address the effects of chemo brain. Now there are other reasons for breast cancer survivors to drink coffee. A study out of Sweden this month finds that women who are on the drug Tamoxifen and drink at least two cups of coffee a day have a reduced risk of recurrence of the disease.
This was a pretty extensive study of 600 women over a 5 year period. CBS reported this wethat researchers found...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - May 2, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
There is no Finish Line in the Race against Breast Cancer
I have resigned to the fact that I am not through with fighting breast cancer. So, I have been working hard to boost my immune system and find supportive therapies to increase my overall health. To be honest, I wouldn’t be as committed to this process if I had never been diagnosed with breast cancer. A general healthy lifestyle would have been my goal and more than likely would have been more geared towards anti-aging and staying fit and attractive. Staying cancer free wins out over vanity.
Recently I found the naturopath I want to trust my health to. I travel to Canada to see him and only because the consults I had w...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - April 30, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
‘Life With Breast Cancer’ Has Moved!
You can find Kathy-Ellen on her new Everyday Health Life With Breast Cancer blog (everydayhealth.com/columns/kathy-ellen-kups-life-with-breast-cancer).
Same great breast cancer information and support – just in a new location on the site. Check it out now! (Source: Life with Breast Cancer)
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - April 18, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
‘Life With Breast Cancer’ Has Moved!
You can find Kathy-Ellen on her new Everyday Health Life With Breast Cancer blog (everydayhealth.com/columns/kathy-ellen-kups-life-with-breast-cancer).
Same great breast cancer information and support - just in a new location on the site. Check it out now! (Source: Life with Breast Cancer)
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - April 18, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: admin Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Thoughts on Changes to My Blog, Life With Breast Cancer
With all the changes to the blog platform here at Everydayhealth.com, I was thinking about some changes of my own. For one, as a breast cancer survivor, I spend a lot of time thinking about life beyond breast cancer and how I can stay healthy and cancer free. That had me thinking of changing the name of my “Life With Breast Cancer“ blog to Life Beyond Breast Cancer. Another change was to include comments and quotes from wellness providers that I have been meeting along my journey to wellness mission for this year.
I have decided to hold off on the name change but love the idea of sharing some of the great info...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - April 17, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer breast cancer awareness breast cancer survivor registered nurse Source Type: blogs
Festivities During Breast Cancer Treatment
A dear aunt travelled across the country to come to my wedding years ago. She was recovering from radiation treatment for breast cancer. She was lively and engaged, but it was clear that there were times when she was fatigued. During those times she would slip away and we would find her lying on a couch or bed quietly resting. I was grateful that she came, but at the time I didn’t realize the extraordinary effort it took for her to attend the wedding.
Holidays and major life events still come with the same family expectations when someone is battling breast cancer. Just this past weekend Easter dinner or Passover had t...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - April 4, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups Tags: Breast Cancer Source Type: blogs
Festivities During Breast Cancer Treatment
A dear aunt travelled across the country to come to my wedding years ago. She was recovering from radiation treatment for breast cancer. She was lively and engaged, but it was clear that there were times when she was fatigued. During those times she would slip away and we would find her lying on a couch or bed quietly resting. I was grateful that she came, but at the time I didn’t realize the extraordinary effort it took for her to attend the wedding.
Holidays and major life events still come with the same family expectations when someone is battling breast cancer. Just this past weekend Easter dinner or Passover had t...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - April 4, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: admin Tags: Breast cancer treatment radiation Source Type: blogs
Genetic Testing is Breast Cancer Prevention
If you have battled breast cancer and have a family, the greatest fear – even more than recurrence - is that one of your children will develop the disease. A breast cancer diagnosis is brutal on any family when it affects just one member, the thought of other loved ones being ravaged by cancer is an additional burden. My family knows this fear we have tested positive for BRCA2. Besides myself, my loved ones have a very high risk of developing the disease.
Despite all the billions of dollars raised and spent on breast cancer research, the best defense we have against the disease is prevention and early detection. That is...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - March 25, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: admin Tags: Health insurance concerns Healthcare cost of breast cancer Source Type: blogs
