Inconclusive 不確定
Update on my new lump of Fall 2019. The picture is my way back from…
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A new lump 新たにしこり発見
It is any survivor's nightmare to find a new lump from a previously treated area, and it appeared on mine last Wednesday, August 28, 2019. My heart jumped and I stopped breathing. No, this cannot be real. Unfortunately, only my son was available as his school had not started yet and he was the only one I could talk to confirm it. I hesitated at first... But I needed someone to tell me if there was something. He said there was something. I called my doctor's office to get the first available appointment: in 10 days.
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Coping with Anxiety. 不安と向き合うには
Check this out! For cancer patients, this TED Talk has great contents! The three things Dr. Olivia Remes says help coping anxiety, I found help cancer patients who face a great deal of anxiety. (Photo during my cancer treatments) (日本語は後に）Three things are: To feel that you have the control of your lifeForgive yourselfFind Purpose, feeling that you can contribute to someone
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Awareness of Survivorship 癌サバイバーたちの存在
Coming Soon! It is good to know that there are many cancer survivors out there! (日本語は英語の後に） Recently, I joined a cancer survivorship book project that Marquina Iliev-Piselli has been working on. She had been collecting 40 women's cancer survivorship stories, and (guess what!?) my story made it to the very last addition to the stories.
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5-Year Mark on Breast Cancer! 祝・癌宣告から5年
Today, I marked 5-year since my breast cancer diagnosis! Amazing! (日本語は後に）
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SHARE program 乳癌卵巣がん患者さん向けの冊子
（In Japanese at the end. 日本語は英語の後にあります。） I am on the face of the SHARE ovarian and breast cancer support group's brochure for Winter (January - April program). I did not know how much it helped me to be able to talk to people who had been through breast cancer before me. I hope you will find a comfortable group to talk to. It is such a big relief to know that when I say a couple of words, there are people say "I know what you mean. YES, I have been there."
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Year 2019's Resolution 今年の目標
A happy healthy new year to you. (Japanese at the end: 日本語は英語の後）
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Cancer, Hats, and "To Live" 癌と帽子と「生きる」
I am really excited that my hats are on a musical stage, "Ikiru" in Tokyo, Japan since October 8, 2018, until October 28. This made-in-Japan musical is called "To Live," (or "Ikiru," in Japanese) and it is based on the Akira Kurosawa's same title movie from 1952. It really means a lot to me to be a part of that movie story.
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(JP language event) "Hair-loss with chemo" 「抗がん剤で髪が抜けたら」でお話します
(Sorry, only this event is in Japanese but) I will be speaking at an event at 6pm on June 11, 2018 at SHARE breast and ovarian cancer Japanese support group in NY. The program invites a medical researcher to discuss mechanism of hair loss during chemotherapy. I will be demonstrating turban wrapping. イベントでお話します。ニューヨークの乳癌・卵巣がんの日本語サポートプログラムSHAREにて、6月11日6時から、抗がん剤治療での髪が抜けるメカニズムの話があります。メモリアルスローンキャタリングの癌治療研究をしている田中先生のお話を中心にして、私は髪の毛が抜けたら、ターバンで素敵に変身できますよ というデモンストレーションをします。お会い出来たらうれしいです。
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4th Year Anniversary of My Breast Cancer Diagnosis 宣告から4年目
Today is my 4th year anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis. For how many more years, will I remember that day so vividly? Probably for awhile!
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Am I "Healthy" after Cancer? 癌治療後の私は「健康」なの？
I had to think twice before I answered, "I am healthy today," 3 years after my breast cancer diagnosis. Have you thought about what it means to be "being healthy?" New definition is needed, let's think about that. 日本語は英語の後にあるよ
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After Surgery, Back to Work! 術後、お仕事復活
After 2 weeks of the recovery time, I went back to work. During these recovery days, I had basically no social life, no make-up and no hair-do. Some friends pop-up to check up on me, and that cheered me up! But otherwise, I was getting a low self-esteem over time. So, dressing up brought back my good energy! I really needed that effect from the styling.
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Recovering Well. 順調なリカバリー
My uterus fibroid removal surgery on last Wednesday, August 23, 2017, it went well and I am recovering.
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Surgery! いよいよ手術！
I received a phone call after lunch, telling me my check-in and surgery time for tomorrow, Wednesday, August 23, 2017. I will remove a or many fibroid(s) from uterus, and I will be sent home on the same day (wow, unthinkable from knowing some Japanese medical system). Oh boy, the last couple of days, I could not focus on anything!
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MRI and Pre-Surgery Test MRIと術前検査
I had MRI and a pre-surgery test done today. This to confirm that I don't have any other concerns and the fibroid is fibroid and nothing else before surgery.
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Surgery is coming up. 手術決定。
I decided to have a fibroid removal surgery. It is coming up next week, Wednesday, 8/23, 2017.
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Possible Surgery for Fibroid Removal 子宮筋腫を取り除く手術かも
This summer in June, I had my regular oncologist visit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. There is no sign of cancer so far and that was good. But my fibroid is getting so big that the oncologist requested me to test and check with specialists. Over this summer, I have seen some specialists and it looks like I will have a surgery to remove it. My GYN said my fibroid is as big as a grapefruit, or my utrus with the tumor is about 4 month pregnant size. (The top picture, the hat I made, Hats by Yoko Katz, became a matching set to the hospital gown. LOL.)
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Marking the 3rd anniversary of breast cancer diagnosis 乳がん宣告3年目
Three years ago, today, I received a phone call from a radiologist. My husband also pictures exactly where and what position he heard the terrible news when I picked up the phone that day. I still believe that was not done right that I was told "all three were cancer," and I was not informed of the stage of my cancer. How scared I was, you cannot imagine. The internet information only terrified me, telling me in statistics of "5 year survival rate." When I was completely, I thought, healthy 36 years old. My son was only 8 years old, quickly my wild and worse imagination occupied me and confined me in a darkness. It was hard to breath, I cried for days and months. 日本語は英文の後にあり。 [caption id="attachment_2293" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A beret hat by Hats by Yoko Katz, yes, my design![/caption]
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symposium speaker (in Japanese) success! 乳がんシンポジウムの講師
This past Saturday, April 23, 2017, I was one of three guest speakers at a breast cancer awareness conference held by a non-profit organization, Young Japanese Breast Cancer Network, at a residence of Japanese ambassador in New York. Two other speakers were breast surgeons from New York and Japan, both Japanese, and I was a survivor speaker. My title of the presentation was "my breast cancer treatments story: fashion helped me in my healing process." My story + turban wrapping demonstration in 15 minutes. 日本語表記は、英語表記の後にあり。
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Tamoxifen, Leg Cramps→Magnesium タモキシフェン、こむら返り→マグネシウム
I have been on Tamoxifen medication for breast cancer, since November 2014, that is for 2 years and 2 months. I am supposed to take this for at least 5 years and possibly 10 years. I had been suffering from severe leg cramps, but having magnesium supplements gave me peaceful sleep!!! If you suffer from cramps like me, try magnesium supplement!!!!! (Ask your doctor, if you can take it.)
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Happy Healthy New Year to You! 明けましておめでとうございます。
A happy new year! May Year 2017 be a happy and healthier year for you!
Read MoreThe magazine is published today! 本日雑誌発売日！
I have been waiting for today. The fashion magazine with an article that I…
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Fainted at Oncologist Office 腫瘍内科で気を失う
The first thing first: I am FINE! I just fainted at a blood test. It was rather embarrassing!
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