Last Edited on:

11/03/98

This page is currently under construction.  I hope to have links to different sites on the web that I and my friends have found useful.  They will include sites about health issues(cancer, eating disorders, HIV etc.)  If you have any suggestions for sites or stories to share( how you dealt with these illnesses either personally or dealing with it in someone you care about) please email me.

When I was 19, we found out that my mother had developed breast cancer.  That was scary as heck!  She had always done everything right - no smoking, moderate drink, exercise, and mammograms.  On one of the mammograms, a small dense area was noted.   She had a biopsy and was stunned that she had breast cancer.  She tried very hard to be optimistic for both my father and myself, but I know she was very scared.   She had a modified radical mastectomy(they take the pec major, breast tissue, and lymph nodes but leave the pec minor).   After that was done, they analyzed the cancer, and, based on its type, there was a 25% chance of it recurring in the other breast.  She then had to decide whether or not to have the healthy breast removed "just in case."  She underwent 7 treatments of chemotherapy.  She kept a positive attitude and didn't lose much hair or get sick.  She didn't feel good though.  She opted to have the other breast removed.  While she continued to put on a happy face, her true feelings would show through when talking to friends :" Well, I have a roadmap on my chest now." 

While he didn't get much counseling, Dad was great.  He bought her skimpy clothes to assure her he still found her sexually attractive. I didn't receive any therapy either - I didn't know what to do.  You feel scared, angry, and helpless among other things.   It is for this reason that I provide links to the following cancer sites.

While in college, one of my roommates was bulimic.  While I have never experienced that myself, it was very difficult to live with her.  Going grocery shopping took hours, as she traded one food item for another.  She would smoke a cigarette and then run for 5 miles.  Another roommate was the survivor of sexual abuse as a child.   Another had been the victim of date rape.  For this reason, I am including the following links.