Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Feb 9, 2012, 12:41 am
The calibration is complete, and my radiation oncologist has scheduled me for ten sessions. I will receive two beams from either side of the body to the five top thoracic vertebrae: T1 through T5. The intent is to put a … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Feb 8, 2012, 1:15 am
computers blinking / anatomy of my spine / treatment strategy ♦ like star wars lasers / they track down the enemy / pursuing offense ♦ behemoth metal / machine circles the outpost / a silent assault ♦ 5 6 7 … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Feb 6, 2012, 11:13 pm
i resist tiny / white pill despite pain spreading / shoulder to shoulder ♦ believing i can / pretend myself into a / pain-free state of mind ♦ until crumbled in / a heap i watch bleary-eyed / as the … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Feb 6, 2012, 2:28 am
Please share this post with other women who can help to spread the word. Tweet or e-mail this post using the buttons at the bottom of the post. Click Project Title to learn more at the Army of Women site. … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Feb 5, 2012, 12:51 am
Last year in April I discovered a world of wild life at my fingertips. Well, here on the computer. Ever since I began following the panda cams at the San Diego Zoo, the National Zoo and the panda reserve in … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Jan 31, 2012, 11:21 pm
Today I met with the renal specialist. As is usually the case at UCIMC, an academic health care center, a resident met with me first to ask questions, review the results of the tests, examine me and discuss my diagnosis. … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Jan 31, 2012, 12:03 am
Back to the medical center this morning for fasting blood tests. After I got home I started feeling bad, though I can only describe it as feeling like my stomach is trying to get the dreaded tummy virus. Between that … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Jan 29, 2012, 12:31 am
Starting with the meeting with my oncologist at 9:30 yesterday and walking out the door finally at 4:00 after three other appointments, ending with my internal medicine specialist, I was exhausted but relieved. Knowing that the cancer is progressing is … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Jan 26, 2012, 11:54 pm
stage 4 cancer club / members signed up only for / life experience ♦ learn what’s important / become a better person / opportunity ♦ membership bestows / advantages aplenty / we bought the sales pitch ♦ in fact, had we been / offered … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Jan 26, 2012, 1:10 am
While I still have pending appointments with my oncologist, primary care physician and a renal specialist, I heard from the radiation oncology department today. They will perform the calibration for upcoming radiation to my spine. I will find out exactly … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Jan 23, 2012, 8:16 pm
What are you doing to celebrate National Handwriting Day 2012? You say you didn’t know about it. No worries. You still have time to write a letter or card and send it to a friend, a relative, a lover, someone … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Jan 22, 2012, 1:49 am
As I wrote yesterday, I am at the oasis this weekend, and it is pure bliss. Writing, editing, organizing my digital photos and also digitizing photos from albums. Finally. Unlike cleaning house, which is for me simply work with the … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Jan 20, 2012, 11:54 pm
Lately, the financial effects of this stupid disease have been bearing down hard. It’s not enough that everything else is, well, stressful at times, the financial effects of stage 4 cancer bring their own brand of insomnia as well. Medical … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Jan 20, 2012, 1:01 am
how many acts ♦ will life offer ♦ three with two intermissions ♦ two with one intermission ♦ just one with no intermission ♦ ♦ no one can know ♦ when the curtain rises ♦ revealing characters, plot, ♦ setting, … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Nov 1, 2011, 1:35 am
The Metastatic Breast Cancer Network held its annual conference at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore this past weekend. I did not attend because I had chosen to attend the Project LEAD (NBCC) workshop the previous weekend and knew that traveling to … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 28, 2011, 11:34 pm
After a weekend full of learning, discussing and networking about breast cancer, this week swooped past me like a freight train. I looked at the calendar today, thinking it was Wednesday, only to be shocked that it was already the … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 28, 2011, 2:21 am
Thinking about the message for October that is most important to me, I would have to say that the language of breast cancer must change. With any goal for any project it is fundamental to create and describe the mission … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 27, 2011, 2:20 am
One topic that arose during the workshop presentations as a brief mention was the amount of time that research investigators pour into finding sources of funding. Investigators typically spend a great deal of valuable research time in simply seeking funding … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 26, 2011, 12:15 am
I’m recovering from the three-day immersion in lessons on breast cancer. Between learning how to decipher statistics and research, the group break-out sessions and meals charged with conversation about all of the foregoing, it was exhilarating and exhausting. I have … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 25, 2011, 12:53 am
I am home now after four days of excitement. The exhaustion poured over me as soon as I got in the door. Even my fingers are tired. It is amazing how your body can continue to function when you are … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 24, 2011, 12:55 am
This morning we spent the last day together engaging in conversations about how to contribute to the goal of ending breast cancer in 2020. With the final presenter and a panel of both advocates and scientists, the day ended with … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 23, 2011, 1:20 am
Day 2 of the Project LEAD workshop was as stimulating and educational as day 1. We learned a lot, and somehow, though my energy waned now and then, the excitement from the other participants empowered me to survive the day. … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 20, 2011, 10:18 pm
I am in Seattle for the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) Project LEAD workshop that runs Friday through Sunday morning, Hoping to do some sightseeing today I arrived this morning to a very drizzly, and, to my southern California body … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 20, 2011, 1:32 am
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval of Avastin® (bevacizumab) for treatment of advanced breast cancer. Although full approval is still a goal, that hurdle will not be addressed until the completion of further phase III studies. In … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 19, 2011, 1:02 am
Please share this post with other women who can help to spread the word. Tweet or e-mail this post using the buttons at the bottom of the post. Click Project Title to learn more at the AoW site. Phase Ib … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 18, 2011, 1:18 am
When motivation runs high to support research and programs that benefit a broader group of the breast cancer community, you might question how to choose an organization worthy of your charitable generosity. Here are a few ideas that might help. … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 17, 2011, 1:08 am
This interesting article discusses the idea that while mutated genes may be the main cause of a cancer, the surrounding cellular environment may contribute to the growth of the cancer. In an effort to understand the biology of cancer and … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 16, 2011, 1:32 am
Amid the pink this month, have you sent a note to your friend who has breast cancer, especially metastatic breast cancer? Like the patient who has surgery and returns to a hospital room filled with cards of encouragement, flowers and … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 15, 2011, 1:07 am
like morning coffee / hubby, caregiver charges / me up for the day ♦ patient, kind always / tolerating silly me / standing at my side ♦ during darkest times / he delivers his best act / tears turn to … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 14, 2011, 12:45 am
sea of pink seethes / around cancer casualties / drowning in our tears ♦ solutions distant / suffering relentlessly / weakens our ranks ♦ parched voices whisper / together calling for life / long life, cancer free ♦ united in … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 13, 2011, 12:08 am
Though the sun shines bright with the heat wave covering southern California, a darkness hovers over the metastatic breast cancer community. We have too many suffering with difficult times, treatments failing and members dying. Where is that cure. We need … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 11, 2011, 1:21 am
Daily dose of awareness Another risk factor that is receiving attention is working long-term night shift or changing sleeping time or habits frequently. Although current research is studying this phenomenon, the theory is that long-term graveyard shifts affect the body’s … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 10, 2011, 1:11 am
Daily dose of awareness Men can also get breast cancer. One in 100 cases of breast cancer is male. The greatest risk is for men between ages 60 and 70 and for men. Risk factors for men are exposure to … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 8, 2011, 11:55 pm
Daily dose of awareness A variety of factors raise the risk of breast cancer for a woman including a family history (on either maternal or paternal side). One of the significant risks is a woman’s lifelong production of or exposure … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 8, 2011, 1:23 am
It was a full morning at the cancer center. First, an appointment with my oncologist followed by my monthly treatment. We discussed my current status, including my recent tumor markers and PET/CT scan. After rising tumor markers for a few … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 7, 2011, 1:08 am
In my 10 truths about breast cancer I mentioned the misnomer applied to successful treatment: cure. The misuse of the word cure is common, and it is very misleading. It is probably a major cause of the incorrect assumption that … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 6, 2011, 12:45 am
While family history of breast cancer may increase one’s risk, most women with breast cancer do not have such a history. Two common forms of breast cancer include ductal, originating in the ducts, and lobular, originating in the lobules (milk-producing … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 5, 2011, 1:20 am
In explaining to friends and others what treatment entails with metastatic breast cancer, I encounter many who have the common assumption that all, or perhaps the only, treatment is chemotherapy. In actuality, because of the developments in treatment over the … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 4, 2011, 12:54 am
One way to help redefine breast cancer awareness is to avoid the games that people spread on social networking sites, like Facebook, under the guise of supporting or increasing awareness. On the surface they may seem harmless, but they are … Continue reading → Comment - Like
Donna Peach posted an article on
Donna Peach, dancing through life's adventure with breast cancer
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Oct 3, 2011, 12:36 am
The fallout has begun. While the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has yet to make its final decision about the approval or its revocation of the drug bevacizumab (Avastin®), the insurance companies are beginning to announce their withdrawal of … Continue reading → Comment - Like