Accessible Science For Breast Health and Breast Cancer
I learned so many new things today at Patient Advocacy Orientation! My best days are when I’m learning new things. It’s one of the things I love best about being a scientist, and it’s a great foundation upon which to build for my new work as a Patient Advocate. What exactly are advocates and what […]
Read More Advocacy 101 – What I Learned from TrainingLike a lot of women, I’ve struggled with body issues. Throw in conservative parents who wouldn’t let me buy a bikini as a teen, a patriarchal society that would LIKE me to wear a bikini so it can ogle or slut shame or fat shame me and then sell me products to literally diminish my […]
Read More Show off Your Bikini Clad Girls for the Cure!Warning: This post is full of swears. It’s been a total shit day. Getting “normal” annual mammograms after breast cancer is nerve wracking. I get that. Literally. Today was my second routine mammogram after completing surgical and radiation treatments. What (I’d hoped) would be an hour long visit followed by an, “All clear! Go, and […]
Read More Scanxiety: My Left Boob Just Won’t *&^#ing Behave!Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with students in Freshman Biology classes at Overton High School here in Nashville. I’d given science demonstrations before—including fun with dry ice and a mouse organ scavenger hunt/anatomy lesson that was fun for everyone except one squeamish student. But I’d never spoken in detail about cancer biology […]
Read More Science Break! Outreach – Getting High School Students Excited About Cancer Research!Living with cancer (even post diagnosis, treatment, and in remission, once you’ve had cancer, you’re always living with it) is weird. One minute I’m going about my day and not thinking about my body, my janky scars, and what’s left of my boobs (which I’m soooooooooo grateful to still have). Then, at strange, random moments, […]
Read More Don’t Be A Hero – See A Therapist!This is the first in a series of posts about sex, sexual dysfunction, and available treatment options for breast cancer survivors. Before we get started, disclaimer: I am NOT a medical doctor. I’m speaking as a scientist and a survivor. I encourage all breast cancer survivors to have frank discussions with their oncologists and other […]
Read More Sex After Breast Cancer – What You Can Do to Get Your Groove BackI’m thrilled and delighted to announce that I’ve signed with Barbara Collins Rosenberg of The Rosenberg Group to represent a nonfiction project based on my experience as a breast cancer researchers who was diagnosed with breast cancer! My goal is to expand on what I do here, providing accessible science with a healthy dose of […]
Read More BIG NEWS! I Have A Literary Agent!This year I have the great fortune of mentoring a talented and dedicated medical student in my lab, Kalin Wilson. Her interest is in oncology, so it’s a great fit for my ongoing and new research directions. She’s working on two projects with similar goals: to identify and characterize new drug combinations and new experimental […]
Read More The Power and Rewards of MentoringDays like today fill me with so much energy, enthusiasm, and hope. Nissan Stadium and the surrounding area were JAM PACKED with people – women, men, kiddos, cute doggos, survivors and those who love and honor them – gathered together in a unified purpose: to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research, patient assistance, […]
Read More Team Lab Rats at Nashville Making Strides Against Breast Cancer EventThis is the first in a series of posts dedicated to the science of breast cancer, so let’s start from the beginning with normal breast. In order to understand how cancer forms and grows, you first have to understand how non-cancerous cells behave and function. Why? Because fundamentally, cancer is an aberration of normal function. […]
Read More Science Break! Breast Anatomy, Structure, and Function