"Stop Copying Me!!"...

...AKA "You're just jealous of my success!" My older sister, Shakti, had a dear friend, funny friend in the eighties who always used that saying - kind of snarky, kind of silly and we use it to this day. So when the other day, we found out that our youngest sister, Lori, had been diagnosed with breast cancer - yes, it's true - I just had to call her and yell at her. She's just jealous of my success...always wanting to copy me...

So, what do we do now? I was diagnosed in December, Stage I, Triple neg, had a lumpectomy, had my chemo #6 this past Tuesday. 2 more to go, then radiation. Mom, 85, was diagnosed in February, Stage II, ER/PR+, had a lumpectomy, will not do chemo and begins radiation any day now. Lori, 45, got the results of her biopsy as I sat in my chemo chair. She called me crying. The tumor is larger than mine or Mom's. They want to immediately put in a port and start her on chemo first in order to try and shrink it before any surgery. No staging or other pathology results yet. Needless to say, Shakti is freaked out. How did she escape the bullet? Or hasn't she? How does this all happen at once to one family? My genetic testing of the BRACAgene came back negative last month but I guess there are other mutations that need to be examined. Our family is reeling...

Chemo #6 flowed through my veins for 6 hours, then a neulasta shot yesterday. Have done 2 photo shoots for the Art Bra Calendar. More friends, Jerry & Mary, arrive from NY tomorrow for the weekend. Hopefully this round won't hit too hard as we have tickets to see Springsteen...just need an injection of that New Jersey fight back into my veins...

Three strikes...

...Me...Mom...now my younger sister, Lori. She has a lump. The ultrasound reveals it is irregular and suspicious. It's not fluid filled. It's larger than mine was, or my Mom's. Dear Dr Smith, my Eagle Scout surgeon...can I get a commission for referring patients to you? Sorry but I have to say it: What the fuck????