Blog & Video Journal
Introduction to Abreast Of The Situation
Welcome to Abreast Of The Situation! I'm so happy you're here. My name is Kayla. I'm a happy, healthy, 31 year-old who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I originally wanted to start a video for myself. I have never been. a journal junky, and I thought creating videos of my experience would depict emotion and create an external version of my internal monologue. Maybe this would be helpful for me? I spoke with a few close friends about the idea and they all immediately insisted that, if I was comfortable with it, I should share it. I'll admit, the thought of that initially made me cringe. "Share my inner thoughts on the internet?! That's terrifyingly intimate". After a few weeks of debating myself, I thought maybe it was a good idea. If no one checks it out that's fine. It's just a little video journal for me to write and research and heal. If someone else chooses to watch or read, maybe they'll find some useful tidbits or what to have a conversation and talk through things. That sounded lovely to me. So here we go. Here's my raw, real, and hopefully useful story.
The "C" Word
Here's the story of finding my tumor, getting screened, hearing the word cancer, and my initial reaction.
Fertility Treatment
Fertility treatments are done!! This was a long time coming with my move from Texas to New Hampshire. This video covers everything from my initial blood draw and sonogram, to finding ovarian cysts, to hormone therapy and egg retrieval! I will also cover different applications to grants from foundations who paid for ALL of my medications!
Surgery
Everything from choosing the type of surgery I wanted (lumpectomy or mastectomy), to meeting with docs and asking questions, to day of and post-op!
Surgery 2
Let's try it again! Unfortunately, my margins were not clear after my first operation so I went back under the knife. What does this process look like? How do you prepare (again)? Looking to the next phase of treatment.
First Day of Chemotherapy
This one's a long one! But I felt like it was necessary to let it all out. Today was day 1 of chemotherapy. It was an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. I learned so much and met some very wonderful people on my care team. In this video I do a (long and in-depth) rundown of the whole day. From sleep to the process, to my final feelings on the day. Just remember, this is my experience and it may be different from other experiences you or a loved one has had. I was simply trying to process some raw emotion and get some thoughts out. Feel free to reach out with comments or questions on the 'Connect' page.
25% Done with Chemo
We're moving and grooving! Done with two of my eight rounds of chemotherapy. How's my body? How's my mind? How's my spirit?
We're Half-way There
The halfway point of my chemo journey. The hardest part! Checking in with my body and making sure my mind is still staying strong. This upcoming week is going to be the hardest. I've got this!
Living on a Prayer
Getting closer to the finish line!! We're into the Taxol phase of chemotherapy and it's much kinder than the Red Devil! What's this Taxol thing all about?
Ring the Damn Bell!
Ding Ding Ding!! Is there a better sound than that? My last day of chemotherapy and the beginning of my healing process.
Next Steps
What's next?
You're Radiating!
My experience with radiation therapy.