MS Maze

I was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2010. One year later I’ve completed aggressive treatment and, although my doctors won’t say for certain that I am cancer-free, we agree that I should live as though I am – and I do.

Read why femininity is all in your head…of friends and acquaintances…and the do’s and don’ts of dealing with someone else’s cancer: The Anniversary of My Survival: What Breast Cancer Awareness Means to Me

People who are overly optimistic in the face of contrary evidence may have “faulty” function of their frontal lobes, according to new research.

Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London (UCL) found that people who are very optimistic about the outcome of events tend to learn only from information that reinforces their “rose-tinted view of the world.”

Read it: Is it always good to be optimistic?

Giuliana Rancic, the 36-year-old host of “E! News” and “Fashion Police” announced on the “Today Show” that she has early stage breast cancer.

The cancer was discovered on a mammogram she had at the insistence of her infertility specialist, according to an article in Boston Globe. Unless there is a particularly high risk of breast cancer, mammograms are generally not recommended for women under the age of 40.

Read it: Giuliana Rancic has Breast Cancer: The Evidence and Emotions of Mammograms

Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
(#24 in a series)

What would you do if you found a lump in your breast? I called a doctor, but not everyone agrees that was the right decision.

Some readers said I shouldn’t have reached out to the medical community, shouldn’t have had surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. I say it’s a personal decision, one we must each make based on our individual case. I told my story but do not give medical advice, unless you consider my plea to check your own breasts or to at least talk to a doctor to be medical advice.

Read it: What would you do if you found a lump in your breast?

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Profiles
Carmelita P: Grieving Son Recounts Mom’s Battle with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Nancy Steiler: Searching for “Normal” After Cancer
Eileen Z. Fuentes: Living with a Grateful Vibration
Meagan Farrell: Cancer Survivor Says “Let Go of the Little Stuff”
Melissa Stukenborg: When Worst Fear Becomes Reality, Find Your Inner Strength

Related
Breast Cancer Awareness: Taking it Personally
Man with Breast Cancer says, “Don’t be embarrassed…it’s too important”
Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Series
My Video: What is Triple-Negative Breast Cancer?
My Book: No More Secs! Living, Laughing & Loving Despite Multiple Sclerosis
Follow on Twitter @AnnPietrangelo

It’s pink ribbon time again. That time of year when we’re bombarded with all things pink to bring attention to breast cancer, it’s causes, treatment, and funding for research.

There’s a lot of talk about “boobies” and “ta-tas,” but there’s a whole lot more to it than saving breasts — it’s about saving lives.

When it comes to breast cancer awareness, many people still don’t realize that men can get breast cancer, too. The numbers are small, but cancer is cancer and, if you’re a man, you need to know that a lump in your breast area should not be ignored.

And did you know that not all breast cancers are alike? Or what it means when your diagnosis is “triple-negative breast cancer?”

Last October I did my part in blogging for breast cancer awareness. As I wrote those posts, I was unaware that a fast-growing tumor was about to make its presence known in my own breast. I am very fortunate to be here this October to help with another Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this time with some personal experience to back it up.

I’ll be posting a wrap-up of my year-long journey on Care2.com on October 14 — one year from the day that I discovered that ominous lump. My birthday also happens to fall in October and I am beyond grateful that I was able to add another candle to the cake.

Related Reading:
Man With Breast Cancer Says, “Don’t Be Embarrassed…It’s Too Important”
Video: What the Heck is Triple-Negative Breast Cancer?
Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Series

On vacation earlier this year, he noticed a hardness in his left breast while showering. His wife, Virginia, thought the nipple appeared inverted and a darker color than unusual. Donald readily admits that without his wife’s observation and insistence that they cut their vacation short, he likely would have procrastinated and delayed seeing a doctor.

How does it feel to be a man with breast cancer? Read it: Man with Breast Cancer says, “Don’t be embarrassed…it’s too important”

“Are you going to write a follow-up book about your experiences with triple-negative breast cancer?” A freelance writer asked me that question during an interview about my book, No More Secs! Living, Laughing & Loving Despite Multiple Sclerosis.

She wasn’t the first person to ask me that question and I wasn’t aware that I had made up my mind until I heard my own voice answer without hesitation. “No. I don’t think I want to do another personal, health-based book. I’ve got my sights set on fiction.”

I went on to explain that I’d already written a series called Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer for Care2.com. I’ve talked at length about myself, and perhaps it’s enough already. But Breast Cancer Awareness Month is around the corner and I know that most people have never heard the term “triple-negative breast cancer.” It’s definitely a topic I will continue to address in my writings.

Having multiple sclerosis taught me a lot about life and about health care. Triple-negative breast cancer was easier to bear because of what I’d already been through, but the medical care I received threw me for a real loop. Multiple sclerosis is a tough nut to crack. At times the medical community can make a person with multiple sclerosis feel as invisible as their symptoms sometimes are. Patients often end up feeling completely alone and misunderstood. It’s a tough disease, and one you have for life.

But cancer … the Big C … breast cancer … my goodness, what a different world. Cancer? We know about that. We can tell you about treatment options, explain them in detail, give you clear choices, and open up our phone lines 24/7. We can tell you stories to make you smile, give you hope, offer you support. Cancer seems to be … well, more tangible, if you know what I mean. People with MS definitely know what I mean.

Now don’t get me wrong — triple-negative breast cancer is a bitch. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I wish I didn’t have it and wish I didn’t have to think about the higher rate of recurrence than from other breast cancers. But I did get it and I did survive treatment, and I am getting physically stronger. It might come back and it might not, but I can’t waste brain space waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Multiple sclerosis taught me a lot, and those who’ve read my book seem to appreciate my efforts. My articles about triple-negative breast cancer have touched a nerve with a lot of women, but I still doubt that a book is the way to go. If there’s one thing I’ve learned for sure in life, it’s that change is constant, so I leave room to change my mind at a later date.

About that fiction … it might be nice, for a change, to write something where I can change the facts at will and make the story go where I want it to go. What fun!

‘No More Secs!’ for Kindle on Amazon
‘No More Secs!’ for Nook on Barnes & Noble
Visit the ‘No More Secs!’ website
Like ‘No More Secs!’ on Facebook
‘No More Secs!’ press kit

The morning of September 11, 2001 is forever seared into our nation’s collective consciousness. Horrific loss of life, massive destruction of landmarks, and infiltration of our air travel system rocked our very foundation, shattering any sense of security we may have had.

We’ve had a lot of healing to do, both as individuals, and as a nation. I asked several experts in human psychology how they think we have healed … or not healed in the past 10 years.

Read it: Ten Years Later: How 9/11 Changed Our Nation

Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
(#22 in a series)

“I seize the day much more than I did before, says triple-negative breast cancer survivor Meagan Farrell. “Each day feels like a blessing, so I make the most of it. I’m also much better about letting go of the little stuff. I let things roll off much more easily now as I realize how precious and short life is, and that in the end, most of it really doesn’t matter anyway.”

Read it: Cancer Survivor Says “Let Go of the Little Stuff”

Access all posts in the Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Series

Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
(#21 in a series)

Triple-negative breast cancer survivor Eileen Fuentes not only lives with a grateful vibration, but generously spreads it around. Now that’s how you turn a negative into a positive!

Read it: Living with a Grateful Vibration

Access all posts in the Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Series

Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
(#20 in a series)

As a triple-negative breast cancer survivor, there’s a lot I could tell you about the process. In fact, this is my 20th blog post on the topic. But the most important things I want you to take away from this series are really quite simple. I hope you take them to heart.

Read it: 5 Things About Breast Cancer You Should Take to Heart

Access all posts in the Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Series

Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
(#19 in a series)

You never know what’s going to happen when you find a lump in your breast. You hope it’s inconsequential because most breast lumps are. Mine turned out to be triple-negative breast cancer.

Throughout months of treatment, I remained fairly healthy, if that’s the right word for someone with multiple sclerosis and cancer.

Read it: “Did You Beat Cancer?” they want to know

Access all posts in the Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Series

Breast Cancer in the News
She was fighting for the right to keep custody of her children despite having stage 4 breast cancer, but the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled against Alaina Giordano.

Ms. Giordano is legally bound to pack up her kids, ages 6 and 11, and send them to live with their father, who now lives in Chicago. “As I write today, I deal with the difficult recognition that my children will have to live 800 miles away from me, until my appeal can be heard. In the wake of this legal decision, my children and I now must grieve the pending loss of each other,” she wrote in a press release.

Read it: Mom with Breast Cancer Loses Custody: Kids Must Go

Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Series

A murderous spree at a youth summer camp in Oslo, Norway last month ended in 76 deaths. Working methodically, a lone gunman fired at teenagers at a youth camp as their young friends watched in horror and scrambled for safety.

Much has been made about the motives and the twisted psyche of the murderer, but not so much attention has been given to the young victims who survived his rampage. What happens when the vague concept of death and the sense of immortality possessed by most teenagers is shattered in an instance horrific violence? How will they recover from such a nightmare?

For insight into the recovery process, we turned to Ellin Bloch, Ph.D., California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, who specializes in trauma psychology and recovery.

Read it: Norway Shooting Survivors: The Long Road to Recovery and Peace

Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
(#18 in a series)

“Ask a million questions before you start treatment.” That’s an excellent piece of advice from triple-negative breast cancer survivor Nancy Steiler.

The 51 year-old middle-school counselor was diagnosed last November and recently completed treatment. “When your treatment is over, everyone thinks you are fine,” says Nancy. “But you’re not. Inside you still need love and support. It takes awhile to heal in all ways.”

Read it: Searching for “Normal” after Cancer

Access all posts in the Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Series