Aloha, my name is Clare & I have breast cancer. Described in scary written medical terms as malignant neoplasm of the breast, estrogen receptor negative. (In different scary medical terms it's Triple negative, lymph node positive, Grade 3, Stage 3 invasive ductal carcinoma with a PALB2 mutation.) I was diagnosed the week before Christmas 2022. Told I would need to see a breast surgeon before anyone else, but the surgeon had no openings until mid January & I wasn't having that. I'm gonna fight this crap tooth & nail. So I worked with the incredible staff at St. Luke's here in Idaho & got myself in to see an Oncologist the week after Christmas. From that point everything moved quickly. I had an MRI, CT & Bone Scan (all with contrast), Echocardiogram & my first chemo infusion by the end of the first week of January. I am now on week 7 of chemotherapy; 6 months total, 2 rounds, 4 chemo drugs & 1 immunotherapy drug. I hope to keep everyone updated through my personal blog which I will be linking to this site. As you can tell by the fact that it took me a month from diagnosis, another month to sign-up for this site & yet another month to start it, my time management/procrastination skills are out of whack lately. But I will try my best to keep it up. Even though I have decent insurance, the medical expenses are piling up; we're talking at least 1 bill a week. There will be a GoFundMe set-up to help cover additional medical costs, processing fees & any left over money will go towards living expenses incurred during to my treatment. (i.e. bills). Okay, this has been long winded so I'll save any further details for updates. Thanks for indulging & supporting me, it truly means a lot. ❤️-Clare

The CaringBridge site: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/stuffedwithaloha/journal/view/id/64149b095f8fc53e65307eb8