Cancer Is the New Black: Early Excerpts

Editor’s note: We’re going back in time to bring you the very first excerpts from journalist Laurel May Bond, who writes the blog Cancer Is the New Black. The following is a personal account of her 2012 diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer. Stay tuned for another installment on June 8, 2015.

A note to those who have great difficulty managing the fear of recurrence:…

What My Patients Are Asking: What Is Pleomorphic Lobular Carcinoma In Situ?

On April 14, 2015, actress Rita Wilson announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone a double mastectomy and reconstruction. In addition to invasive cancer, one of her diagnoses was pleomorphic lobular carcinoma in situ (PLCIS).

PLCIS isn’t well-known, and many of my patients wondered what it is and how it’s treated.

PLCIS is a type of lobular carcinoma in situ …

Our Friends Answer: Mother-Daughter Relationships and Breast Cancer

Mother’s Day is this weekend in the U.S. If you were diagnosed with breast cancer, you might be thinking about the role your mother or daughter played while you were going through diagnosis and treatment.

This week, we asked our Facebook friends, “Was there something your mother or daughter did or said that made a big impact during your experience?”

You answered:

“While breastfeeding my …

Vaginal Dryness 911: An Emergency Can Start the Conversation

“I’m really suffering here. How do I have that awkward conversation… you know… about dryness… with my doctor about getting help?”

I often hear this complaint from many of my brave patients who have sought help from numerous healthcare providers. Vaginal dryness in the midst of breast cancer treatment is a serious emergency, often made worse when no one is talking about it in the …