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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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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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!
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Teaching Wednesday 水曜日授業の日 Pose #509
"Did you make that turban?" Being in a college where fashion creators get together, it is easily assumed that I make the accessory. Turban is probably easier to make if I like to, but sometimes people asks if I make shoes I am wearing. These comments make me smile. The answer is no, almost all the time, I wish I could make them, just like that.
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Teaching Tuesday 火曜日授業の日 Pose #569
Killer heels. I love these heels, but I cannot walk too long with them. If wearing some very casual piece on your clothing such as sweat pants, also wear something very feminine together. This makes a look interesting and fashionable.
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Teaching Tuesday 火曜日授業の日 Pose #323
"I like that one," a student was saying while pointing out my wig at the beginning of my class. What is wrong with changing wigs. Make a total styling, why not include wigs (or turbans) as an option while people changes bags and shoes as a part of fashion.
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Teaching & Cancer Treatment Tuesday 火曜日授業&分子標的治療の日
Tuesday was a very busy day. I was very happy to find myself that I was again capable of doing multiple tasks in a day. Morning: Teaching. Afternoon: Cancer Treatment. Evening: Attending a Cancer Seminar.
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Fashion Turban Lesson ファッションターバンのレッスン
One of my colleagues wanted to learn how to do the turban and asked me if I could demonstrate for her one day. We did it together and she looked so pretty in it (I should have taken some pictures! I was not sure if she was going to say OK for blog. Where should I take the pictures... etc. I thought of it too much and then could not have a nerve to ask then...).
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Teaching Wednesday 水曜日授業の日
"This is not like me." "I did not want to do this." "I did not choose to do this." "It does not reflect my character."
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11th Targeted Therapy Day 11回目分子標的治療の日
The 11th targeted therapy for HER2 treatment was done today!
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Teaching Tuesday 火曜日授業の日
I am bundled up for another very cold day in NY.
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Teaching Wednesday 水曜日授業の日
"Oh, you only have one earring. You might drop the other one."
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Teaching Tuesday 火曜日授業の日
Each time I wrap into a turban style, it comes out slightly different, even when I try to do an identical style. Well, enjoy that! Today, I looked myself in a mirror and felt like I was in Aladdin, or in a story One Thousand and One Nights.
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wrap up for freezing temperature 極寒対策にマキマキ ターバン
It has been very very cold in New York area, days of single digit temperature with strong wind. Putting a wig itself is not a comfortable thing, but adding an extra knit cap to bundle me up makes wig tighten up with extra pressure. When I take off the cap also makes wig look messy, too.
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