CancerHacker

Ten months. Long enough to have a baby. Long enough to lose several friends to cancer. Not long enough to figure out if I have a recurrence. Ten months ago I complained to my radiation oncologist about severe pain I've been having in the same quadrant of my body where a team of crack scientists poisoned, cut and burned the cancer in me two years ago. An MRI was ordered, but due to the shortage of MR machines in the province the scan was not until six weeks later. In the interim other odd symptoms started popping up.

Last week was my final session with the Sutherland Chan breast massage clinic in Toronto. I highly recommend it to anyone who is finding that they are still stiff from surgery. The name of the clinic is a little misleading, as the focus is on treating the effects of surgery, radiation, etc. in the breast area which have caused pain or reduced range of motion. Patients are assigned to a single student therapist for 8 weeks. All of the students are in their final semester of the program. There are two instructors, Debra and Sasha, who supervise the students. The instructors are closely involved with the initial assessment and treatment plan and also make rounds during the sessions to observe and demonstrate techniques. Sasha is a Vodder trained lymphedema therapist. Debra is one of the owners of the school and has almost 30 years of experience. While the students I had were good, I melted for the 5 minutes each session when either Debra or Sasha would stop by to demonstrate a lymph ...

I wish I had known about this moisturizer when I was having radiation. It's water-based, unscented, petroleum/mineral oil free, and paraben free. It can be purchased at any of the four  Sugarmoon locations in Toronto and St. Catherines. They often have sales on their products. I believe it may be the same product as Alexandria Restore Hydrating Lotion , but don't quote me on that. This moisturizer contains aloe and is designed for use after sugaring or waxing, perfect for irritated, radiated skin. It is thinner than Glaxal Base Cream, so more frequent use would be necessary during treatment.

"Has your tumour shrunk at all?" How was I supposed to know? The doctor's were the ones with the fancy measuring tapes. The best I have is a straight edge, not the best tool for measuring a 3 cm tumour. Anyway, this chemo stuff isn't actually supposed to work, is it? Well, guess what. Three weeks after starting chemo, the oncologist measured my tumour and found it had shrunk 0.5 cms in one dimension and 1 cm in another (the 3rd dimension being unmeasurable by hand). That was enough to inspire me to figure out a way that I could easily measure my tumour to monitor how much it was shrinking. Here's my handy method that requires no tools (provided that you can feel your tumour). With one hand, place your thumb and forefinger on the outer edges of the tumour. Then with the other hand place as many fingers as will fit between the two fingers of the first hand. Make a note of the number of fingers (and which ones) -- this is your measurement.

Just in time for Christmas, here are 10 of my personal strategies to reducing my cost of living in Toronto. *Update 3-Jan-2014*: I forgot to include  Toronto On A Shoestring  - another wonderful source of cheapskate knowledge!

It's been a year since I had my last docetaxel infusion and I still haven't written anything about how I coped with the experience. To be honest, I'm not really sure I did, not well anyway. I know that not everyone reacts badly to docetaxel, but I was not so lucky. That said, I've been making notes of the various things I tried in my attempts to survive with my sanity intact.

The one side effect that everyone undergoing radiation therapy will experience is skin irritation and potential breakdown. Most people compare the skin reaction to a sunburn -- how bad of a sunburn will depend on a number of factors. Don't assume that having darker skin will protect you from the effect, you should still care for your skin as if you are the palest person you have ever seen.

After two months of alternating between being out of the country and being sick, I am finally starting my reviews of select travel insurance policies. This week I am comparing the policies currently being offered by online travel giants Expedia.ca and Travelocity.ca (note the ".ca" part of the names -- this is specifically about the policies offered to Canadians). But first a few things to keep in mind... Travel Medical Insurance is intended for emergency care, not routine or planned care. Do not expect it to help you get care at your favourite US cancer centre. It doesn't work like that. They will shoot that claim down faster then a rabid squirrel. If your doctor tells you not to travel, then don't. If you have symptoms before you travel, don't wait to see a doctor. Being in denial about your situation is not an insurable condition. In general, medical coverage begins on the departure date and cancellation insurance coverage begins on the date of purcha...

Update (2013-03-06): I found a few nasty catches in a few policies that everyone needs to be aware of. Some policies will not cover you if you have ever had a bone marrow transplant. Some travel medical insurance policies will not cover you if you have ever been diagnosed with lung cancer or metastatic cancer. Some travel medical insurance policies will not cover you if you wind up having to have chemo between the date you purchased the policy and your date of departure. I came across one plan that requires you to inform the company if there is a change in a previously stable pre-existing condition before your date of departure. The company will then decide if they wish to continue to honour your insurance policy, whether that be for the travel medical portion of your policy (which makes some sense) or for the trip cancellation portion of your policy (seriously not cool). I will be writing a few reviews of policies in both Canada and the US, in order to give you all a feel f...

Partway through chemo my office sent me a big basket of chocolate bars. It was well-meaning. However, I had been on a health kick long enough by that point that I had gotten down to my ideal BMI, chocolate was rarely part of my diet, and I was feeling really proud of how well I was taking care of myself (all things considered). Unfortunately chocolate is a bit of an addiction for me and the basket of temptation was too much to resist, particularly since my energy levels were nil. If you are trying to figure out what to get a friend who is going through cancer treatment, have a look at my suggested gift items.

Like all things in life, (keeping track of everything for) chemo is much easier when you have an iPhone app to help you. Below are my favourite AppStore apps for keeping yourself organizized through treatment.

Sometimes it seems like everything that has happened was meant to be. Or rather, everything good that has occurred happened to prepare me for everything bad that was to come. "OK, Laura, breathe in... And out. Now big breath in and hold." This was the mantra spoken over the microphone six times a day for five weeks. While I lay there as still as possible with my nose pinched tightly by a clamp, holding a one-time-use disposable snorkel between my teeth, I followed the instructions given by the voice to a tee - desperately trying not to swallow in between breathes, as that would cause my ears to pop, leaving me with uncomfortable be-popped ears until the day's treatments were finished.

Now that I've gotten past the surgery part of my treatment, here is a list of a few things that I found invaluable.

Cancer almost inevitably results in having less moola to get by on. You're working less or not at all, you have hella medications to buy (some costing as much as $3000 a dose), you're constantly shuttling yourself back and forth from the hospital paying for transit or parking. In the absence of a Cancer Discount Card (which I would totally love to set up if there is anyone out there who wants to work on that with me) it helps to grab whatever free or almost free stuff you can. Aside from the well publicized ride services and free wigs (via the Canadian Cancer Society ) there are a number of other freebies available to us, some logical, some kind of random. Cottage Dreams Cottage Dreams provides one week at a cottage in Ontario to anyone who is currently not in active treatment. I imagine that taking Tamoxifen or getting your year of Herceptin infusions doesn't count, but I guess it's worth asking. If you are in treatment you can apply now for when you have fin...

Cancer patients don't lose their battle like a boxer, they lose it like a soldier. Sometimes you're put in a position where the only possible outcome is your own death and there's naught you can do about it.

Wow. When I started chemo back in March the end seemed an eternity away. Now I am done and just awaiting the final set of nasty side-effects to kick in and eventually pass. Unlike most breast cancer patients I'm still at the beginning of my treatment. This is not a graduation for me. But I'm hoping that this is the end of the worst part. The repeating "get sick, get better, get sick again" cycles have become more of a way of life than I imagine surgery or radiation being. So what does it feel like to have finished? Well, my attitude in the chemo ward ("day care" as they call it at Princess Margaret to distinguish it from inpatient care) was 180° from my attitude during the first session. I was excited to get started. I had a huge smile on my face for most of the session. But now that chemo is done... what do I do now? My surgery date will be determined by the results of the various scans I have next week due to a loverly complicating case of DVT that I g...

Last week I started the second half of my chemotherapy experience, with my first doses of docetaxel and Herceptin. Over the three cycles of FEC that I had, I learned quite a lot about how to manage my side effects. No doubt you have already read a number of tips for how to survive chemo (and FEC) with your sanity intact - if you haven't then check the forums at breastcancer.org - there are tons of tips there. Below are my personal must-do techniques while getting FEC.

I am lucky to live near Canada's top cancer centre, Princess Margaret Hospital. In addition to the medical care and research done at Princess Margaret, the hospital also has an extensive patient education and survivorship program. The focus on caring for the patient as a whole extends into all areas of the hospital, including the hospital's Wig Salon. At the beginning of my wig fitting appointment at the PMH Wig Salon, Zane gave me a tour of the store focussing on the various types of headwear I may need once my hair fell out. The focus was on practical needs. It turns out that there are some considerations to keep in mind beyond trying to look good. Here are a few head accessories suggested at my wig appointment that have come in handy.

On chemo days I have a funny taste in my mouth that just won't go away. One of my favourite ways to combat the taste is to drink homemade lime sodas. Normally you would have to squeeze half a lime or lemon into a glass of club soda, but modern technology has made this previously tedious process easier than pie. One of the shops at my local market sells a product called True Lemon (there's also True Lime and True Orange for other citrus lovers). This product comes in individual sachets of dehydrated juice (of your citrus of choice), each equivalent to 1/2 a tablespoon of juice. I simply pour a glass of club soda then empty one or two sachets into the glass. Voila! Instant yummy citrus water goodness.

The MUGa Scan was another scan where I was the radioactive one. The goal of this scan is to evaluate the condition of the heart. Before the scan started I was injected twice -- once with some sort of tin fluid and once with the actual radioactive stuff. For more details on the actual injections check out the Wikipedia article . Funny side note: the guy who gave me my first injection just happens to live in my building. Again I had to lay on a table which moved up and into the scanning machine. The technician hooked me up to a bunch of electrodes. When he started the scan I just had to lay still, nothing to do, nowhere to go. I tried doing some relaxation breathing during the scan. I could see the read out of the electrodes, so I occasionally watched how my breath affected the reading. Once the scan was over the technician was awesome enough to let me watch the video of my heart. All in all a very easy test with a bonus video at the end. Test Ratings Time Required [short, medium,...