In case you missed reading about her in the NYT, an inspiring and encouraging profile - in fact, what I'd call a true profile in courage.
I'm especially impressed by her insistence on taking responsibility.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/us/politics/pamela-hemphill-trump-jan-6-pardon-rejection.html
Please check if you have my email address, wtg. (Unsure where to look for confirmation as I haven't mastered use of this site - i.e., for PMs - so just tell me here.
Hmm. Just realized you could only write (if true) "Yes, I have it", and I won't know whether it's the right one. Guess I need to figure out the site's mechanics a bit more.
Aha! Better late than never. Poking around a bit, I DID discover the icons upper right, and one led to wtg's much appreciated query about my health and indication that others wondered too. (Still don't know how to send messages via PM but at least I see I can get such things as email confirmations by clicking on the "A" topmost right! A for Amanda perhaps.)
And I will take this opportunity to reply to your inquiry, though perhaps it would have been less wordy to report on a separate thread.
I guess the concern (thank you) in reference to the breast cancer (my second in 10 years, FWIW - but different cell type, different breast.). The first one led to double mastectomy with reconstruction (guess this one was somehow seeded mostly in the axilla.). With this one, they're letting me "go flat" for six months til I heal from radiation.
Not the most appealing, besides which I put on weight from stress eating (VERY disappointed not to lose weight with the radiation as I was told to expect!)
The self image change, reminds me of the handout they gave me after the second op: "How to prepare yourself for seeing yourself in the mirror after surgery." Black humor, but I found it amusing. (Samples: "Steam up the bathroom mirror first", "Look into a handheld mirror reflecting the mirror behind you", "Ask a friend to look first and give you a description". Who writes these things anyhow?)
Anyhow, the main thing is that the nasty little "invasive lobular" thingy (more fuzzy than solid ) is gone. It probably went undiagnosed for four years since I first THOUGHT I felt something, because this relatively rare variant of C is characterized as "sneaky". It remained uncertain to palpation and declared benign at all testing. All until the last ultrasound which led to the tissue biopsy which came back crummy. Alas, all the rest had been false negatives.
Shockeroo to me, gynecologist and ultrasound radiologist.
Many delays before eventual surgery as I wanted to get a second opinion about recommended treatment at first facility and that took a good while. (I downvote Anderson's scheduling department, among other things).
The first lumpectomy came back with bad margins so I needed another, which was declared "clean".
Having turned down endocrine therapy (based on research with software engineer son's AI program!) - I was only sent for radiation. Low-dose, short period. Word now is that I supposedly have only a 5% chance of recurrence - about as good as it gets with cancer. I am naturally greatly relieved.
I certainly learned the meaning of "gratitude" seeing (and sometimes getting to know) so many other patients. They had much more advanced disease and many had suffered the ravages of chemo. I know how lucky I am. (Think I was the only one with my own hair - for what that's worth! - in the waiting room for the three weeks of daily radiation.) Sadly, they were not only mostly younger than me, they were MUCH younger than me.
This is the little spoken of result of the (patriarchally decided) reg not to allow women under 50 to have mammograms covered by insurance. Hence, in due course, a great many victims were diagnosed in their twenties - and with very aggressive cancers. So sad - and maddening! (The insurance reg has been modified, but too late for too many.)
On the basis of my biopsy cell analysis, mine is characterized as "indolent" (good) and my Stage is now declared to be 1 Tc.
Main trauma was heartbreaking issue with one son, who let me down shockingly (and as yet unexplained) on commitment to be with me for surgery. Nothing at all hurt was except my feelings.
I'm now back to my formerly greatest cloud (thinking of Peanuts character), of having been diagnosed with wet macular degeneration. (For anyone who doesn't know, it's an incurable blinding eye disease though it seems to be delayable by newish treatment.)
Just had a relapse of that after reprieve of three years, so it's back to eye injections. (Not as bad as it sounds). Since thus far it's mostly the right eye, I can drive and g-d willing, somehow it will stay there. Whether it WILL spare the "fellow eye"(rare but it happens) seems to be based on certain patient characteristics as yet unidentified.
I hope I hope I'm one of them!
Thanks very much for asking, after me wtg and whoever else wondered about my goings on!
Somehow or other, the cancer, eye, and deteriorating orthopedic/neuro conditions (increasingly limiting mobility), have done a number on me in terms of communication. However, I have been lurking at critical moments and feel present on the forum, even if I wasn't contributing. (Whenever something major happened or was in the offing re national/world events, I wanted to see what you all were saying.)
And there HAVE been so many events, mostly very undesirable - as we all know....
Longer than intended. Guess I'm the kind of person with whom one takes ones chances asking: "How are you"?
Warm greetings to all! And best wishes for a very happy, healthy New Year, Chinese and otherwise. So many uncertainties loom, don't they?
Thank you all for the care and welcome!
Warms the heart.
I see I'm going to have to spend some time learning how to use this new platform...+editing, signature, images.
I'm very touched to see this thread (thanks, Lisa, for starting it).
I'm not online much these days - or, at least, not commenting (apart from support groups, it seems. LOL - sort of).
If I read anything social media-wise, though, it's to lurk at (the old) WTF. to see how and what my old friends are doing. Also for guidance about how the like-minded are responding to news.
I have been dealing for ~half a year with a second bout of breast cancer (different breast, different cell type), which I'm glad to report is only Stage 1 - they just told me. Was kind of a shock as the "something" (i.e., do I feel anything or not? Gyn had same reaction, starting four years ago), was dxed as nothing until finally they did a bx. False negatives! Seems this rarer variety ("invasive lobular") is universally described as "sneaky" - that is, really hard to identify.
But after two lumpectomies (suspecting my breast surgeon of dropping the ball first time. Can't abide her), they prescribed me a short round of radiation just finished. (Yay!)
I refused hormone therapy after in-depth research via AI program, which found an important clinical trial in Denmark reporting women in my category (older age, early stage, "node negative") only improve their risk of recurrence by 5% if they take it.
And DO get many negative side-effects, most concerning being loss of bone density. As I told more than one oncologist. who pushed for the hormone blockers, "I am not just a walking breast"! That is to say, there are all my orthopedic issues. They predispose to falling which would be fractures instead of bruises if my good bone density were lost. Cost/benefit decision.
Typical issue of modern specialization. Every specialized MD wants to treat only THEIR part of the body. Didn't get ANY help in thinking it through at top center I flew to, but pretty sure I decided right. [NO JINX!]
As best I can tell, my risk of recurrence now (counting on the radiation, great radiologist) is quite low.
Feel so lucky, though, especially during radiation treatment. Think I was only patient in the waiting room with her real hair, having been spared the ravages of chemo - and sadder, so many of the others were quite young. (Result of policy of not having insurance pay for mammograms except for older patients. The age cut off has since been reduced, caution increased, but leaving many victims paying for the mostly male-dominated previous cut-off. Grrr!)
And if their CA was estrogen positive, they were also forced to take those hormone blockers, leading to very premature menopause - often before having a kid. Really sucky - to be inducted into the "shitty titty club" so young, as one sub-Reddit called it.
Main casualty for me was a family dynamics issue it precipitated. Between that, Israeli wars, Trump and the cancer, I've put on a tidy amount of weight I'm hoping to attack (also to return to the gym). Emotional eating! Wish I qualified for a semaglutide (and could afford it. Hope Biden squeaks in his proposal for Medicare to cover it, though seems unlikely.)
Great to "visit" you all, and really feels warm to have had my absence missed!
(Thanks to AdagioM's FBK message I found. Appreciation, Adagio!)
I'm here too. (Amanda)
Where are the emoticons and special features (like URL)?
I can't even figure out what my password is as it's generated by auto-fill. Guess I registered earlier and forgot it...(going to check password minder!).
