My Short Bucket List 私の短い「死ぬまでにしておく事柄リスト」
I have a very short bucket list. One of them marked off: "A Trip to Italy!" [caption id="attachment_2182" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Tuscany's Sunflower Field. トスカーナ地方のひまわり畑[/caption]
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After Chemo, Tamoxifen and Periods 抗がん剤治療後の タモキシフェン口径薬と生理
My periods have changed to horribly heavy periods after chemotherapy and being on Tamoxifen medication for breast cancer.
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Happy 4th! 米独立記念日
“Happy 4th of July,” everyone! I am doing generally very well and enjoying the…
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Breast Cancer Oncologist Appointment: Nothing! 乳がん腫瘍内科定期健診：何もなし
No news is the best news when meeting with my oncologist for semi-annual check-up of my breast cancer. This was my 2nd check-up after completing IV (Herceptin) injection treatment in July 2015. I was thinking "please don't tell me anything" and crossing my fingers when my doctor hand-examined my breasts. I hope to keep "nothing" news in my future. This time, it was nothing, yay!
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PhD Graduation (with My Handmade Gown)! 博士課程 卒業式
I had a PhD graduation ceremony! I am even more officially, well... I had been since February... but, Dr. Yoko! I started the PhD program in 2001, that is 15 years of my work. I am so proud to be able to come this far. Thank you so much for supporting me, my family, friends, colleagues, my blog readers, and my professors. Along the way, I started to teach Economics at US colleges since 2004, got married, had a baby, had been raising my son in bilingual, got breast cancer, completed chemotherapy, finished reconstruction, completed my dissertation and the graduation ceremony was the closing of the PhD program!
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2nd Year Anniversary of Breast Cancer Diagnosis 乳がん告知から2年目
I marked the 2nd year anniversary of the cancer diagnosis on May 19. Today, 2 years ago, it changed me so much.
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Attending a Wedding in Japan 日本で結婚式に出席
I have attended a wedding in Japan about 2 weeks ago. My friends from high school were there and some of them, I had not seen them for 20 years. Many of them didn't know about my cancer.
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Support Group SHARE Photo-shooting! 乳癌サポートグループSHAREの写真撮影
I joined a photo session at SHARE -support for breast and ovarian cancer- yesterday. I only had one hour to be there and I had fun of getting some photo shooting done with other survivors and SHARE stuff members. These photos will be used for their publications. Look out!
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No more fussy hair after chemo, finally やっと抗がん剤後のボワボワ髪が無くなる
Since my last chemotherapy about 18 months ago, I kept cutting my hair because it came out so unevenly strong wavy. I used to have straight hair in natural, but it came out very very wavy. Finally, it looks like much more of the hair I used to have today! (This picture is just before cutting for the final time to say good-bye to my wavy hair.)
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After the breast cancer symposium 乳がんシンポジウム無事終了
Yesterday's breast cancer event went successful! I was one of panelists at the event and shared a part of my stories. Some issues that young cancer patients may face such as career, raising kids and future pregnancy issues during treatments were discussed. It was a meaningful event to me. I hope to encourage people goes through cancer treatments.
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Breast Cancer Discussion Event (in Japanese) 乳癌シンポジウムに登場（ニューヨーク）
I will be speaking as a panelist at a breast cancer symposium this Saturday,…
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Together, we are strong. 共に戦うから強くあれる
A dinner with two of my friends was a great time. Especially, when I did not have to worry about cancer nor dissertation! I am a super happy person!!!
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Feel Like "Normal" Breast ごくごく普通だと感じる再建後の胸
I was digging snow this past weekend and suddenly, I felt like "wow, it is really normal" about my breast, which had been mastectomy and reconstructed. I had no pain, and no pulling while shoveling the snow. I talked about the look of my breast in my last post. This time, I would like to talk about feel of the breast.
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Completed Breast Reconstruction 再建が終わった乳
It was a long way to come, but I just made the last trip to my plastic surgeon's office. I have known him for 1 year and 9 months. I did 2-step reconstruction with silicone implant. Here is the time line;
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Spring 2016 Semester Started 新学期の始まり
A new semester has started this week. I have full of energy to kick off this semester. (Wednesday was my first day of classes.)
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Dissertation Defense: Pass! 博士論文口頭試験 合格！
I passed my dissertation defense in PhD Economics last week! My husband and son celebrated my achievement with a cake and Champagne on the same day. It was a long, and sometimes rough, journey to come to this day. I still have to make some minor revisions, but the major parts are all done! A big relief! (Yes, this is THE big project I have been referring as a big project in this blog.) In the picture above, I took off my hat while defending it. I tried to look moderately stylish, but hopefully looked smart to defend a serious paper. How do you rate?
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