Thank you
@DoloresHuerta
for block walking with us
@YoungDemsBCS
for affordable housing yesterday despite the rain. Your presence and encouragement were so inspiring to us!
One of the things that was so powerful about
@DrNadiaChaudhri
was that she didn’t let her illness steal her joy in life. I’m trying to live by her example. ❤️
Two and a half years ago I hoped to live long enough to see my daughter graduate from high school. Today I moved her in for her sophomore year in college. ❤️
I used to wonder as a scientist in academia married to another scientist in academia w two kids, how I was still standing. This year I’ve lost 6 family members, I myself have cancer and this brings the question of how I’m still standing to a whole new level.
Nearly 3 years ago I was diagnosed with borderline resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. had every kind of treatment, in and out of stage 4, and am still here. I’m pretty sure docs did not expect that I would live this long, but no one gave me any numbers for life expectancy.
Nov 2 marks 2 years since my Whipple surgery for pancreatic cancer, and just over a year since recurrence. 3.5 years since my initial diagnosis for a disease I thought would take me in less than a year... I'm here with... 1/3
EXTREME: Royal Caribbean is planning for what it calls the longest and most comprehensive world cruise ever. Passengers will be onboard the Serenade of the Seas for 274 nights - that's nine months!
I’m sad to report that my dad passed away this evening. He was at home - surrounded by friends and family. I’m coping by telling my kids funny stories about like the time he dragged, us all the way to Heidelberg for world class schnitzel only to order the goulash. 💔
You can not beat cancer with positivity.
You can not beat cancer with strong will.
The reason I dislike these attitudes is that it makes cancer patients feel like they need to have a fucking smile on all the time, and if they only tried harder they would have survived. 1/3
Had that talk with my daughter about moving from standard to experimental treatment. She broke my heart a little thinking the Whipple would be the cure. I hoped so too kid- I hoped so too.
My trainees nominated me for an award. I didn’t win… but I got something better. This folder containing all the letters they wrote on my behalf. Priceless.
So I can’t ask my undergrads if they are vaccinated and can’t require them to wear masks- and therefore it’s fine for me to expose my vaccinated, mask wearing grad students and post docs to these folks. I think not.
My boss didn’t recognize this- but my doctor did, and cared enough to send me this message. This week
@TaniguchiMD
has a paper in The Lancet AND one in Science, both will be life changing for patients. I’m out of words over our collective loss. 💔
"For active awards, NIH anticipates beginning to award the additional $2,500 in childcare costs per trainee slot at the time of the next continuation award starting in Fiscal Year 2022."
MY DUDES- that's one month of child care in any major city.
4 weeks post op Whipple today. So far going as well as one can expect. Today they put me back on a regular diet 🎉🎉🎉 Beyond grateful to awesome surgeons and their awesome team members.
Here we go to chemo number 5482341. 7 hours of poison laden fun. Please let me have Hope or Flower as my nurses today- they are so efficient and very kind.
I sometimes find myself very angry at people complaining about crap that doesn’t matter. I have very deadly cancer. Think about who you are bitching to for just one second.
Last year I hoped only to see my girls graduate. Today I helped the younger one move out of her first apartment and she’s about to be a college sophomore. 🎉
Hi. My name is Helene and at the age of 51 I was diagnosed with Pancreatic adenocarcinoma. It’s
#PancreaticCancerAwarenessMonth
and lets bring attention to genetic testing and clinical trials for pancreatic cancer patients, in addition to general awareness!
Insurance company denied my next treatment drug Lynparza for my pancreatic cancer.
@tamusystem
after nearly 3 years of fighting this disease, this is NOT ok.
We celebrated a PhD and papers accepted, three job offers, awards for best talk among other things, three undergrad graduations, and two new members of the lab. 🎉🎉🎉
I voted! 49 minutes start of line to leaving the building. One jackass voting official with no mask. I, of course, gave him one and a little lecture on how I had chemo yesterday.
Would it be crazy to sequence and RNA seq my own tumor tissue. Qiagen has a kit for DNA/RNA extraction from FFPE tissue and the sequencing itself can not be that expensive.
@BioNTech_Group
7. I’m here for that though. Showing up for tomorrow - and all the joy and love and sometimes sorrow that comes with it. ❤️ I’ve gotten to see so many family milestones … and shortly there will be two more- a wedding, and a 22nd birthday- that I never thought I would see. ❤️❤️
I’ll take dog, cat, goat, sheep or any other cute pet pictures you have this evening. Feeling kind of barfy, headachey, and just generally down after chemo today.
Took Pavlov to Gas Works Park for some fetch and a beautiful view! Making sure he celebrates his birthday with his favorite activities. Love you, Pavvy 🥰
Checking in for chemo. front desk guy complains his mask is SO uncomfortable (an under the nose wearer) ...I wanted to scream that wearing a mask is THE most comfortable thing I’ve done here. For fucks sake... have you no idea what cancer patients endure in this building?!
Last 14 days of chemo starts tomorrow. After a total of 16 months of chemo, two surgeries, 6 hospitalizations and 5 weeks of chemo radiation in the last two years... LETS GET THIS DONE! 💪
Instead of ringing the bell, we took a pic w all the awesome rad onc techs that delivered 50 gy to one tiny spot in my liver. These people made it easy!
@MDAndersonNews
Also- 3 years ago this day, the radiologist told me I had a 4 cm mass on the head of my pancreas. I'm grateful for these three years of closeness with my family and friends, milestones for kids, and knowing the love that surrounds me. Whatever happens now is up to the universe.
Beautiful talk this morning by
@PeterHotez
about creating low cost vaccines and the anti vaccine movement and it’s truly devastating effects. The scientific community needs a wake up call and must act!
We should be sequencing all pancreatic tumors. We should have a giant database of sequences, and of gene expression profiles for these tumors. Docs will say WHY??? but I say- you need to get the data first to know what's in the data and how you can use the data.
Totally.
@PeterHotez
is working tirelessly to get info out on this pandemic, and he has been correct at every step. And, as I have said previously, he walks on water.
Among the true heroes of 2020, I’d like to acknowledge Dr.
@PeterHotez
for his tireless
#scicomm
work, facing the public daily to provide the facts about COVID-19 and vaccines.
I just read a bunch of stories of people who had Whipple s for PDAC and are long term survivors. I’m scared of this MF coming back on me - but those stories give me hope.
After a year of appointments, inpatient visits, and surgeries managed alone- it’s so awesome to get to have my husband come in with me again. Like awesomely awesome.
Tomorrow is promised to no one. Remember that. Hug your loved ones extra tight. Make sure they know they are the only things that matter to you in his world. Be kind to others. You can’t even imagine what they are going through. Better to err on the side of grace.
My cousin, Paul Jensen, has been missing for the last two years. His remains were found yesterday. While closure is ...something... knowing how depressed he must have felt to take his own life is 💔💔💔💔.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe I have a deadly cancer because I feel great and I’m gaining weight. Never thought I’d be happy about that last bit, but I am.