Completing resolution of yr 2019. 2019年の今年の目標達成
Completing resolution of yr 2019. 2019年の今年の目標達成 My resolution for the year 2019, I have…
Read More
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）
Read More
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.
Read More
(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。
Read More
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.
Read More
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.)
Read More
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]
Read More
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。
Read More
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 More
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!
Read More
Japanese Fashion Magazine Interview 取材を受けました！
A Japanese fashion magazine editor from Japan flew into New York to write an…
Read More
Normal Nails Again (21 Months after Breast Cancer Chemo) 爪がやっと元に戻ってくる（抗がん剤終了から21か月）
After 1 year and 9 months from my last breast cancer chemotherapy treatments (ended in November 2014), I finally feel that my nails gained again the strength I used to had. Up to this summer, my nails had been chipping, cracking, and coming into multiple separated layers all the time. I could not grow them at all. But now I can!
Read More
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!
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.)
Read More