The Occasional Hot Flash

Once upon a time, work was something I did for the money. My real life—kids, friends, books, yoga—took place off the job. I treasured my free time after work and on vacation. So six years ago, when I was diagnosed with cancer and was given the option of paid sick leave, I grabbed it, right?
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Many women go for handsome men with good hair who look nice without their shirts — like George Clooney in ER or Patrick Dempsey in Grey's Anatomy.
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As National Breast Cancer Awareness Month gets under way with renewed vigor — "celebrating 25 years of awareness" — I'm struck by a certain irony. Awareness of your risk may be desirable before you're diagnosed, but after you've been diagnosed, awareness kind of sucks.
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About the only good thing breast cancer has given me is the friendship of a few good women. But what breast cancer gives, it also takes away. Not everyone survives.
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Lately I've been thinking: If I had it to do over again, would I choose a holistic path over conventional medical treatment?
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When I told my 24-year-old son I had cancer, he said, "I know just how you feel. I've imagined getting it for years."
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Like every other woman who's been diagnosed with breast cancer, I've tried to figure out why I got it.
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Some of the worst moments of my cancer experience have taken place in the elevator at work. I've been...
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You know about the two-week rule, right? No? Then I'm going to tell you about something that has spared me hours of stress.
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It's widely held that a dire diagnosis galvanizes you to re-examine your life, prioritize your goals—and accomplish them.
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My favorite chemo nurse, Pat, told me a story about running into a former cancer patient at the grocery store years after he'd finished his treatment. Delighted to see him, she approached him to say hello. He took one look at her. . .
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If you were to ask me my religion, my answer would be yoga. That's how deep my faith...
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The scariest movie I've ever seen is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Ordinary, unsuspecting people go to sleep, and while they're unconscious, their bodies are taken...
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Diamonds are a girl's best friend, according to the old song. But in times of crisis, I'll take words over jewels.
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It's the holiday season in New York. And I'm enjoying it in all its pleasures and imperfections. Five years ago, that was not the case.
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What do you think about the controversy over the new enhanced security measures?
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Far be it from me to judge another woman on how she reacts to the news that she has cancer. But here are some things I did NOT do when I was diagnosed with breast cancer: 
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After much trial and error, I've found that what works best for me is...
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Dissatisfied with conventional breast forms, I'm making my own.
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Sometimes when I see pink it makes me see red. And in the midst of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I've been seeing a lot of red, er, pink.
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We survivors can be a prickly bunch. Many things people have told me -- with all good intentions -- have set my teeth on edge. . . .
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Five years after I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I still suffer side effects.
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People say the darnedest things when you're diagnosed with cancer. I know -- I've uttered some doozies myself. But sometimes someone says something genuinely helpful.
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I recently went to the annual conference of the American Association for Cancer Research and learned about a way that each one of us can actually help find a cure for breast cancer.
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When you're diagnosed with breast cancer, many experts suggest you get a second opinion.
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After two mastectomies, chemo and radiation, Bonnie Pike was beginning to feel she was out of the woods. Then things closed in again.
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In 2006, after a second diagnosis of breast cancer in three years, Barbara Kriss chose to have a bilateral mastectomy without reconstruction.
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When I was being treated for cancer, I was humiliated by my chemo-baldness. My bare, pink scalp looked obscene, even when covered by a scarf.
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I made promises and broke them. I arranged to meet friends and failed to show up. People confided in me, and I lost the gist of what they were saying.
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When you're diagnosed with breast cancer, life doesn't stop and wait for you to get better. It keeps putting challenges in your path. During the time that I was undergoing treatment, my mother had a stroke; I had to empty and sell her apartment; my sister-in-law —who lived four hours away—was diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer and needed my husband and me to help with caregiving; and layoffs at work imposed what amounted to a work speedup for those of us who held onto our jobs.
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The anxiety set off by a diagnosis of breast cancer can be overwhelming. I have found ways to reduce it, and some of them may work for you.
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If you're like me when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, you may panic and feel as if you need a medical degree to decipher information and make treatment decisions. I pass on to you the advice I found most helpful back then.
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This NY Times article on what people say when you have cancer and how we think about it ourselves, I found interesting.  I left it thinking about what words, other than survivor, we could use to describe ourselves.  I didn't get anywhere really. So let me know if you come up with something good. Leave comments here.
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Every woman who answers the Hotline at SHARE was once on the other end of the line. Each of us once heard the words "You have cancer."
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There are power and authority issues here. What do you think?
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In yesterday's New York Times, Gina Kolata tells us that the American Cancer society is re-thinking its message on the importance of screening mammograms in saving lives.

 
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