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All About Ellen


Ellen is a single mother of three wondrous adolescents. At the age of 39, two weeks after the birth of her third child, she was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma of the left breast with axillary metastasis. She spent a very full year of parental leave undergoing chemotherapy, mastectomy with axillary node dissection, and radiation therapy, followed by a decade of endocrine therapy. Her favourite pastimes include:

(1) doting over her children
(2) blasting unknowing bloggers with puns, and
(3) kicking cancer to the curb, then swiftly backing over it with a dump truck 

This blog initially chronicled her experience in being diagnosed and treated for Stage III breast cancer immediately following child birth in 2012, or as she liked to refer to it, from kegels to chemo and beyond. Chapter two began in 2024 and explores her insights and experience living with metastatic (Stage IV) breast cancer.

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Marching Onwards

"It doesn't matter what you say about somebody once they're gone. What matters is how you treat them when they're still here."  - David Silver, Beverly Hills 90210 On this day in March 2024 I came home from a month-long hospital stay where I had been treated for newly-diagnosed metastatic breast cancer. That month was also the twelve-year anniversary of my original cancer diagnosis.  Two weeks later, following a failed attempt at targeted therapy, I was discharged from oncology care and told "I'm sorry but there is nothing more we can do". I was signed over to a team of palliative care doctors and given weeks to two months to live.  That was two years ago.  I'm sure you, dearest of readers, have guessed the moral of the story: Don't believe everything you are told when it comes to your health. Take it at face value and appreciate that it was based on the best available information at the time. But remember that you are in the driver's sea...

Keeping Abreast of Ellen: The One with the Sequel

To quote Lady Whistledown, and because I feel strongly that this update (though far from gossip), is worthy of your time and readership, I will lead with: Dear Gentle Reader, Sequels are generally overrated. Mine is no exception. I have been toiling for months over how best and when to communicate this difficult news to you. I settled on today as I am now seven months in, have dusted off my figurative pen, and truly have cause to give thanks.  For those who need me to cut to the chase, here goes: Cancer has come knocking again. In fact it didn't knock, it let itself in through an open window and has taken up residence. Although it's contained to a few adjoining rooms (abdominal lymph nodes, ribs and pelvis), uninvited guests can travel in packs, so my awesome medical team and I are keeping a watchful eye for new squatters.  Those interested in how this story unfolds can  follow my new Facebook Page , Keeping Abreast of Ellen, where I'll soon post updates on key milestones...

Rage Against the (Christmas) Machine

It's Christmas Eve! Well it was when I wrote this post. It really doesn’t bother me that I didn’t get to publish it yesterday as soon as my last sentence was typed. It is also no skin off my wrinkly nose that I was only able to do one very quick edit at 11:55 p.m., thereby ensuring this message would not reach you on Christmas Eve, given that it wasn’t travelling on Santa’s sleigh. Not.a.problem. My message is out now, and you are reading it, and that is all that matters in the end, right? So here it is, my Christmas message to you.  Note: While it is unarguably Christmas-related, it has been, as with all of my writings, scripted with every human, animal, spirit and holder of space in mind, so applicable to all. I just have a bone to pick with Christmas and it’s been simmering into the perfect storm of a broth for years…so get ready for a tasty yet powerful punch!  Let’s restart… It's Christmas Day! I am sending so much love and light to all of you, my family, friends and once...