When the fear of metastatic become reality

My life has been shattered into a million pieces with my latest diagnosis.

At the end of 2023, my voice started going hoarse. We did everything to rule out the ‘scary’ stuff.

1.) We did an ultrasound on my thyroid. – negative

2.) Had two different ENTs scoped my throat. – negative

3.) Did a lung capacity test to rule out asthma. – negative

4.) Full CT with contrast of the chest wall and abdomen PLUS a head-to-toe bone scan to rule out metastatic cancer. – negative (minus a 7th rib notation that was there before – possible old injury) Rescan in 6 months

5.) Rescan Aug 5th, but this time, BOTH lungs were consumed with cancer around my esophagus, and my lymph nodes around my neck were filled with cancer cells.

6.) Lung biopsy that turned into a neck lymph node biopsy, which confirmed our worst nightmare.

Toby has gathered an arm and relocated to both my lungs.

If you Google “triple negative metastatic breast cancer to the lungs,”… the findings are soul-crushing.

On multiple websites, you will find that ON AVERAGE, I have 1.5-2 years.

The chemo port was reinstalled on Aug 21st, and on August 30th, I began Taxol infusions on my 2nd mastectomy anniversary.

AUG 30th
2022 – double mastectomy

2023 – I got my tattoo outline done to reclaim my body

2024 – started chemo again

I’ve had one full round of chemo, which equals weekly infusions for three weeks and then one-off week. After four rounds (12 infusions), they will rescan to see if we’ve progressed.

FAQ

Q: Is this the original cancer?

A: Yes, the little fucker was hiding and then slid into both lungs

Q: Are you still working at Noyes?

A: I’ve been working from home as much as I can. They have been very gracious in letting me work from home and rest when I need to. When I can’t work, I’ve started claiming short-term disability.

Q: Are you keeping your portrait studio?
A: Yes, for now. My warrior session work helps so many, including myself. The more I can do, the more legacy I leave behind. During my original diagnosis, I found a great guy who does utterly different work than I do to split the studio time. It’s been amazing, even when I was better. OH and in our spare time photographed 12 dogs to be featured in the Dogs of Hillsboro 2025 calendar.

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In other news:

I’m one of the Portraits of Hope Ambassadors for the American Cancer Walk on Oct 20th. Join my team for free – HERE