As I’m being wheeled in, I see the door and my stomach flips. I’m in the same room as MIBG 8 years ago… Catch up here on my experience so far with metastatic thyroid cancer and how it led me to doing a massive surgery, and now RAI treatment With what I know now, I created a protocol I believed would change the future of any procedure I’d have. I didn’t realize this fully, but it would translate into any procedure… even my most dreaded: radioactive iodine Why do I dread this treatment? Or anything related to iodine for that matter? Well, I’m allergic. It’s been fun navigating an iodine allergy ..read more

There are two new pages on http://www.pheovsfabulous.com under the dropdown menu One explains the difficulty leading up to a diagnosis of metastatic thyroid cancer (unrelated to pheo) The other goes into great detail of what it looked like to advocate through surgery You can start here and then here I am healing well, that’s where my focus has been since it’s been such a short window of time. I am targeting inflammation in my body in order to stabilize. I’ve had surgery and now radioactive iodine in just over a month so it’s been a lot. Continued updates will come Pheo vs fabulous ..read more

I was told I had 1-5 years to live. I sat in a white office with the same diabetes posters and bland medical facts I had looked at several times, and contemplated how angry I was. Angry because had I not been so ‘rare’, something might be different. Perhaps someone might have listened to me, instead of blaming my symptoms on anxiety. This was the worst day of my life. I would not be sitting here listening to how I had over 20 tumors that metastasized all over my organs, and were now killing me at an aggressive rate. I’d be planning my next vacation. Discussing a promotion. Contemplating moving ..read more

If you’ve ever had your battery run so low that seemingly small things like brushing your teeth is WORK, this article is for you. Self care is a wonderful replenishment of the mind, body, and spirit. It allows us to realign with our true selves by creating a flow again. But what if you’re burnt out? What if you’re disabled and can’t leave the bed much? What if you’re feeling really low and just can’t get the motivation? Or maybe you’ve just been through anaphylaxis and every single thing is scaring you in fear it’ll happen again… Yep, guilty. That’s me currently, and rightfully so. It takes we ..read more

Anyone with a chronic illness knows a certain unpredictability. Whether they will have a good day or a bad day is unknown. But what if you lived in a body where the suddenness of the symptoms ruled your world? Living in an unpredictable body goes beyond the scope of not being able to plan. It’s more than not knowing if you’ll get a debilitating headache or a pain flare. Those I can plan for, I do plan for. Living in an unpredictable is not being able to trust your own body. I love my body, but it’s hard to trust it. Your body can feel like the enemy. When I was first diagnosed with pheochro ..read more

Last oncology visit of the year I count appointments, small wins, month to month, day by day, because there’s no line we cross or distinguishing number that says we’re ‘done’. This was originally our 2nd last appt of the year (5 of 6) but on the long ride there – rheumatology called and booked me in on the 20th so much for a finish line But here are some pretty big numbers I was reminded of today… While crying in disbelief with the nurses that saw me today, hand in hand we reminisced over all those numbers that led me here Two 10+ hour surgeries 3 minutes flat lined Over 900 days straight of ..read more

HELLO Fab Fam! I’m so happy you’re here. The holidays are fast approaching, the most wonderful time of year has some challenges for the chronic community. I’ve compiled my ultra fav items to help inspire YOUR shopping list! I’m only sharing products that have impacted me in a significant way. This way you can be sure to know it’s tried and true, fabulous approved These items have either brought extreme joy to my heart, solved a problem, reduced pain, improved my wellness, encouraged self love and inspired self care, and OF COURSE – helped me stay ‘fabulous’! The majority of these are from sma ..read more

What is global NET CANCER DAY? What does the ‘NET’ stand for? NET cancer day is recognizing all ‘neuroendocrine’ type tumors and cancers. Meaning the tumors arise from the neuroendocrine cells in the body. NE-T stands for neuroendocrine tumor and NE-c is neuroendocrine cancers. This day brings us all together to push for change in the diagnostic process. It provides a global effort to inform patients of what symptoms to look out for. The NET CANCER DAY campaign is to KNOW THE SYMPTOMS. PUSH FOR A DIAGNOSIS. As someone who’s been touched by this disease since my teens, I can say from experien ..read more

I feel like I have so much to discuss since yesterday’s appointment, so here we go. NET CANCER DAY has really got me thinking a lot about how much responsibility falls on us as the patient. I’ve always known this, and I often discuss how the information I share relies on us (the patients) to advocate for themselves in an unbelievable way Somehow yesterday living it in real time while the campaign ‘know the symptoms, push for a diagnosis’ echoed in my mind…. It hit different I’ll be giving a bit of a health update, while sharing how I prioritize multiple symptoms and conditions The difficulty ..read more

I feel like I have so much to discuss since yesterday’s appointment, so here we go. NET CANCER DAY has really got me thinking a lot about how much responsibility falls on us as the patient. I’ve always known this, and I often discuss how the information I share relies on us (the patients) to advocate for themselves in an unbelievable way Somehow yesterday living it in real time while the campaign ‘know the symptoms, push for a diagnosis’ echoed in my mind…. It hit different I’ll be giving a bit of a health update, while sharing how I prioritize multiple symptoms and conditions The difficulty o ..read more