Category: experience

In the middle of the 17th century, Mrs Townsend found a lump in her breast: Diagnosed with breast cancer by a local physician, she underwent a mastectomy without anaesthetic – an agonising procedure

Keywords: Breast Cancer, Cancer, History of medicine, Interdisciplinarity, Misogyny, Reproduction, Women, mastectomy

While much of Mrs Townsend’s experience is mercifully alien, the silence that surrounds her post-mastectomy experience is eerily familiar. Each year, 55,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer, and up to 40% will choose to undergo a mastectomy. Mastectomy patients are routinely offered surgical replacement of the breast tissue, whether with saline or silicone implants, a tissue transplant from elsewhere on the body, or a combination of the two.

https://theconversation.com/mastectomies-have-been-performed-for-over-500-years-yet-we-still-cant-talk-about-them-144132

“Entropic Mama” to me is all about being a woman who has goals and ambitions, but may not know how to get there right away because she has a lot more to focus on than just herself and/or her goals

Keywords: intro

We can feel like we have this set order to our lives and that we have it all together for that moment, but then we fall into disorder because of countless things. Such as mental health, debt, loss of family or friends, anything that is truly out of our immediate control really. Life is all about entropy, the chaos and randomness of the world that eventually brings order, and as long as we don’t give up along the way, we will always see our dreams come to fruition.

https://entropicmama.blog/2020/08/30/take-the-first-step/#comment-2

It was both frightening and liberating because I could finally be in charge of my own body, rather than sitting back and feeling lost in the void of having a genetic cancer syndrome

Keywords: breast surgery , breastcanceradvocate , cancer awareness , cancerawareness , check your breasts , li fraumeni , li fraumeni awareness , mastectomy , prophylactic mastectomy

I’m trying to reclaim my body whilst saying goodbye to it at the same time. Life is a series of paradoxical nightmares.

https://thehaplessandhappydiariesofaimee.wordpress.com/2020/07/24/what-it-means-to-say-goodbye-to-your-body

If I’m not fighting for my rights, who will continue to champion for us?

I wanted to document this story because when I have children of my own, I want the world to be better than where it is today. And I also want to be vulnerable about my struggles, because I truly believe that vulnerability can be a source of empowerment for others feeling the same way or going through the same thing.

https://theshortasianfemale.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/hello

It all made sense why about three days a month I genuinely believe everyone is talking badly about me, that no one likes me, or that I am annoying everyone

Keywords: awareness, cycle, disability, Emotional, Everyone Hates Me, Experience, Hormones, menstral, PMDD, PMDDawareness, PMS, Symptoms, women

It’s also to blame for sometimes being sure the friends I have only pretend to be my friends. I am so hard on myself and legitimately think I cannot do anything right, my irritability would add to that thinking, so I would get irritated and on-edge. Unfortunately, sometimes it goes deeper than irritability and lack of confidence, this is when my most intense and anxious thoughts are constant. It is when I imagine my life without the people I love or I ask the horrific question: would I be missed if I was gone? 

https://lifebetweenthelines725.wordpress.com/2020/04/29/pmdd-journey

A Very Un-ladylike Embryo Transfer

embryo transfer, FET, frozen embryo transfer, infertility, ivf, pcos

Infertility Coping

**this is an old post of mine that I drafted over the summer after my first FET. Figured I’d share it now. I did not post it in “real time” because I didn’t want to jynx anything. This was the FET that resulted in my 3rd miscarriage. I sounded so happy and optimistic below, sigh…***

When I first started blogging I told myself to try to stay away from my personal medical details, but once I got thrown into the realm of IVF I feel myself crossing the boundary between sharing and oversharing! Full disclosure, I get pretty blunt here- but not too graphic or anything. The purpose isn’t to scare you about transfers, but rather to provide some comic relief to this whole thing! Something where you can say, “glad that didn’t happen to me!”

Ok, so my transfer is a frozen embryo transfer. To prep my uterus for…

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Hello Anger, My New Friend

anger, infertility, pcos, ttc

Infertility is Trash

Well this emotion is new.

I have never been an angry person. Not because of any sort of mature, noble work on my part. It’s just not one of my emotions of choice.

I tend to feel the blue ones: sadness, disappointment, shame.

The red family of emotions are very new to me on this infertility journey. Red emotions like rage, anger, irritation, judgment.

I find myself reflecting on why anger has been foreign to me.

It’s not like I haven’t had things to feel mad about. I grew up in an alcoholic/addict home (Dad). I’ve suffered eating disorders, being cut from the high school volleyball team (lol), and have faced a mountain of student debt.

That stuff should have made me at least a touch of anger. But mostly I just worked harder.

I realize now that maybe I’ve never needed to rely on anger. If I faced a…

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