Getting to Know the Covid-19 Vaccines!

With the recent emergency use approval of two independent vaccines for SARS2-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the horror that is Covid-19, many folks have questions: What the heck are these vaccines? Are they safe and effective? Should I get one? Note: I’m not going to dignify any wild conspiracy theories about vaccines and microchips. Bill […]

Fundraising for Tanisha

Tanisha Jones MBC & Renal Failure Fund I’ve met and admired many survivor sisters over the years. After my diagnosis, they held me in their arms and lifted me up so I didn’t have to face breast cancer alone. Before I was diagnosed, I got to know a really cool woman named Tanisha Jones. We […]

$hit You Shouldn’t Say To Cancer Patients Or Survivors: Part 1

(Filched from my personal FaceBook Page. It’s not plagiarism if it’s mine) Some thoughts on people who think my cancer wasn’t “that bad,” was “baby cancer,” and wasn’t such a “big deal.” Yes, people have said that to me. People have also asked me why I think I got cancer. I could go into a […]

Reconstruction Surgery and Resilience

With so much uncertainty in the world, it’s nice to be fairly certain about one thing: tomorrow, I will get a new left breast. It’s a mixed bag of emotions for me, but the strongest are relief and hope. When I wake up tomorrow afternoon from anesthesia, Covid will still be ravaging the planet. We […]

Breast Cancer From Bench to My Own Bedside

Tables Turned From the Laboratory Bench to My Own Bedside Originally Published in VICC Momentum September 23, 2020 | Dana Brantley-Sieders, PhD Note: This is an essay I wrote last summer. Though my journey continues thanks to residual disease and a mastectomy after I submitted the essay, the spirit and information in the essay hold […]

I don’t feel pretty, and that’s okay

So I’m 5 months out from my mastectomy, waiting for reconstruction of my left breast, and I feel fugly. Not just ugly, but the kind of grotesque that can only come from looking in the mirror and STILL being shocked to see one nipple hanging significantly higher than the other. When I’m clothed it’s slightly […]

Yo, Cancer Researcher – What the Heck Do You Actually Do?

It occurred to me that while I’ve told you that I’m a cancer researcher, you might not know what that actually means. There are many kinds of researchers who conduct many diverse types of cancer research, as detailed here. All are important and complimentary, and they often overlap. I am an academic (work at a […]

Breast Cancer Care in the Era of Covid-19

It’s been a while! I’ve taken time to recover from my mastectomy (will blog about that later) and, like many folks in self-isolation, I’ve been doing things like gardening, cooking/baking, home improvement, and family activities to fill the time. I waver between being grateful, bored, peaceful, restless, and generally anxious about the immediate and long-term […]

Thoughts on My Upcoming Mastectomy

First off, apologies for the long absence. Between working from home, homeschooling, gardening (I’ve got a CRAPTON of veggie plants and flowers that I love, pet, kiss, and call my green babies), bread baking (while the yeast lasted), quilting (I’m seriously turning into my grandmother), I’ve been a little busy in quarantine. Busy is good. […]

Covid-19 and Cancer – Self-Isolation Isn’t Just About You

On this, my second “Cancerversary,” I want to urge my fellow citizens to take this pandemic seriously, shelter-in-place, flatten the curve, and listen to scientists and health experts rather than politicians and rabble-rousers who value the economy over health and safety. I originally submitted this as an Op-Ed to several news outlets, but in light […]