Archive • Gory Details • Buttondown

Hormone therapy

October 30, 2023

This might be the last Gory Details, my friends. With the acute phase of cancer care in the rear view mirror, I'm starting to turn my focus back to "real...

September 21, 2023

Today was my 8th radiation treatment, officially crossing the halfway point. As of tonight, I am starting to see slight skin reddening and some warmth and...

August 10, 2023

It's my birthday, and also the low point of the last round of chemo. I am thinking that it's a good birthday because hopefully everything gets easier from...

Today's the first time writing an update from the chair. Fun!* After the experience last time, I just had a chat with my RN about covid mitigation efforts...

tl;dr caught covid from the infusion center. Currently fine myself (like a mild cold); hoping I haven't spread it to too many people, feeling extremely...

CW: this one may be disturbing or gross in a moderate body-horror kind of way, judging by a few initial reactions. Hi friends. It's been an interesting...

I guess it's time for a side effects round-up. Monday (infusion day), as previously reported, I really didn't experience any ill effects outside of a...

tl;dr: chemo round 1 is done, and it went about as well as I could have hoped. Now awaiting the side effects which will probably start to ramp up around...

Brief notes about the IVF experience. Egg retrieval yesterday went smoothly. The initial count was 32 eggs collected; after assessment, 15 of those were...

Cancer class was good. Pretty sure I passed. I've got a fairly straightforward treatment plan: pre-medication with lupron (for fertility preservation) and...

Welcome to cancer class

I suppose it's time for the follow-up to my message earlier in the week. I'm a little low right now from a headache so this may be less entertaining and more...

I'm back at work today, so I'm going to keep this brief and fill in more details later. I just spoke with my oncologist, Dr. Reddy. Based on her...

Much love and much gratitude, AND please please don't take my previous message as solicitation for more cookies! We have far too many baked goods. We are...

Post-post-surgical update

tl;dr: tumor margins were clear, but they found cancer in one out of three lymph nodes sampled. Long version: This afternoon I talked with Dr. Greer (the...

Quick blueberry update, and some pictures

Yesterday I had an ultrasound of the right breast to get another look at the new mass observed in last week's MRI. Thankfully, this one got a more comforting...

Hi everyone! As Luke said last night, surgery went well and I'm already feeling pretty good after a decent rest. I think he gave you a pretty good play-by-...

Post-op update from Luke

Hi there! Rosemary's not currently feeling like writing emails, so it's my happy duty to tell you that her surgery went according to plan. Once she actually...

Mood at our house right nowMe, staring into the fridge: What am I doing here. Why did I open the fridge?Luke: Tumor's reached your brain already, has it?Me:...

tl;dr surgery is still on for this Friday, then follow-up check on Right Boob. First-time MRI impressions: Paranoid fantasies about large metal objects...

Welcome to Gory Details

Hi friends and family, I just added you to this newsletter because I'm pretty sure you will want some form of regular update on my situation. Since you're...

How we got here: a little backstory

Welcome to Gory Details, a cancer newsletter. For those who need some introduction, hi-my-name-is-Rosemary-and-I-have-breast-cancer. Great, got that out of...