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Some awesome things that have been happening: I can wear mascara, finally. (I have a full set of eyelashes!) It�s always been my favorite, and I went 6 months without, so no -- I will not downplay my excitement. In case you didn�t hear, my second mastectomy was a success . Probably should�ve opened with this one, but gawrsh I love mascara. I am far enough along in my healing to wear a specially-fitted breast prosthetic. Which I realize is one of those things you might wish to leave out on a blog that�s read by your parents and maybe your high school teachers. It�s sort of like talking about a shopping spree at Victoria�s Secret: a cool thing, but a keep-to-yourself thing. But it�s also sort of exactly NOT like that. I have cancer. (cancer card! It�s happening!) I do (and write) what I want. Anyway, it�s great fun because when I go out, I no longer need to decide between the very unbecoming one-boob look or futilely stuffing a wadded washcloth into my bra. It�s a massive relief to we...

I�m a little late to the party, but a fellow breast cancer blogger, Nancy Stordahl , whom I admire greatly, proposed a summer blogging challenge last month. Though the grocery stores here in Western New York are stocked with Oktoberfest, and our temps are hovering right above sweater weather, the calendar agrees with me: it's still technically summer. I got Paul�s answers for these, too. And they�re good. 1. Share anything you want about your cancer diagnosis (or your loved one�s). Share your age, cancer type, stage, when you were diagnosed, family history (if any), your reaction, how you learned the news, or whatever you�re comfortable sharing. Liz: I was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, stage IIIb, in February 2017. The cancer was in my right breast and had spread to my underarm lymph nodes. I was 30. No family history, really. Just one cousin on my dad�s side who was also diagnosed fairly recently. Because a lot of people ask: I found a lump so I went to the Doctor. P...

There's a thing that happens when you get diagnosed with cancer. Or maybe I'm a total nutter and it's just me. Not sure, but it seems the further along I get in my treatment, the less actual hoots I give about what people think.  Wow.  That sounded horribly smug and self-righteous coming out...what I mean to say is - I've developed a (slightly) thicker skin about certain things.  Like this blog, for instance. Under normal circumstances, I would NEVER have started a blog. Mostly because I'd fret incessantly over the possibility of coming across as snobbish. Or self-absorbed. Or insecure. I'd worry that my posts would trigger collective eye-rolls and Facebook friends unfollowing me en masse.  I do care about people, they're lovely. I just don't have the energy to waste on worrying what they think about my false eyebrows. Or, more to the point, what they think about my ideas, my writing, or this silly blogging shtick.  Which, hooray for me because I alwa...

So I have this thing with amateur bloggers. Well, it's funny. I, um, hate them. Wait - n o, no, bad Liz: we don't use the word "hate" in this household. (unless it's directed at food bloggers, and even then it's pushing things) Get it together . OK OK. I don't HATE them. Not even the food bloggers. (but ugh, they are just the worst) I just sort of a little bit think they're generally, sometimes, a touch, oh ah - pretentious AF? There! I said it! I said it, and you were thinking it, so now we're even, and we can all breathe and move on! Down to business: the business, that is, of me introducing myself as (gag) yet another novice blogger schlepping her small words into the ether. I hate it as much as you do. It's just - you know. I kind of have this story I want to share. I've had this inner turmoil going on for months where one moment I'm like: "I need to write a book! A 12-part series! How do you self-publish on Amazon? Can I lea...