Welcome to Sick Daze
A newsletter from a beautiful bald woman who is fighting cancer and pooping her pants in the process. Ok bravery!
Having cancer is a total mindfuck, in a variety of evolving and surprising ways. Every day is truly a winding road when you’re cance’d up to (specifically in my case) the tits.
On February 27, 2025, I was diagnosed with Stage 3a, grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma. This means my right boob and some lymph nodes in my right armpit have betrayed me. Possible revenge for stuffing them into Skims shapewear bras. My doctors also think I may have inflammatory breast cancer, a rare type of breast cancer where the cancer cells block the lymph vessels which leads the skin to turn red, swollen, and inflamed. There’s still uncertainty, however, and my doctors are assembling a “tumor board” to determine for sure that diagnosis, which would affect my mastectomy surgery. She’s a medical mystery, ya’ll! Page that hot, grey-haired nurse on The Pitt! I don’t care if he’s not a cancer doctor, that’s MY MAN!!!!!
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
I try to not assume to be the only person to have dealt with a thing. I’ve been around long enough to know that while everyone is different and our experiences aren’t uniform, most often there’s a whole lot of overlap. As a writer, we can forget this because everything hits different when it finally hits you, and we tend to always be on the lookout for a story, trained by the trauma mining industrial complex of digital media.
When it comes to cancer, the awful truth is that it’s extremely common. My dad died of cancer almost 16 years ago. One of my best friends is also going through cancer right now. People I care about have lost parents, their spouse, friends, and other loved ones. And there are so many others in my orbit who have gone through it and lived to say “that fucking sucked” — friends, friends of friends, online mutuals, and strangers on the internet who found my cancer hard launch post. Many of them slid into my DMs to offer advice and support and amazing products recs. Shoutout to Avène cicalfate+ restorative protective cream!
Does the fear of repeating a story stop me from cracking open Google Docs? Of course not. A bitch needs a freelance check. But it’s always my hope to offer a different perspective, share possibly valuable and unknown information that could help someone, and make us all feel a bit more connected to one another, especially when navigating through difficult things. I’ve posted a bit already on Instagram and written a couple pieces; one for HuffPo about sending titty videos to people online so they can see the signs of breast cancer to look out for and another for LA Times’ De Los about the dangers of dense breasts and how Latinas are especially affected by breast cancer. There’s so much more I want to write about, but editors can only do so much with budgets that are shrinking seemingly by the hour. Also, remember blogs? I miss those!
And this is why Sick Daze is here.
Every day since getting the official diagnosis has been, well, sick. Sickness now occupies my every day and while I am NOT down with this sickness, I am stuck with it until further notice. Getting sick has a way of changing your perspective on a lot of things. The world suddenly shifts and you feel a bit knocked off your axis. You have to move about in familiar places in a wholly new way. People start treating differently and calling you “brave,” “inspirational,” a “tough chick,” and a “warrior.” And not for wearing white shorts while on my period for once.
But in talking to others who have gone through this, and receiving care from friends, family, and strangers, I found solace while being in the world’s shittiest club.
There’s a lot we don’t talk about, and there’s even more uncomfortable details we don’t get into, especially when it comes to illness. While I understand and respect wanting to be private (and there’s certainly a lot I keep to myself), I tend to lean into openness, sometimes to the detriment of the vibes at a baby shower. Talking to each other is important. Sharing can save lives. Telling you about the chemo shart I had outside of the South Pasadena Trader Joe’s and that I had to ride home laying on my stomach in the backseat of my sister’s car (evidence below) allows me, and hopefully you, to laugh in the face of a very serious and scary disease.
In Sick Daze, I’ll be sharing my experience with cancer, talking to others who have been affected by cancer, and other observations. I’ll also have a regular series called Sick Watch, where I watch a cancer movie and write about it. Finally, an excuse to revisit the 2011 Kate Hudson-Gael Garcia Bernal cancer rom-com “A Little Bit of Heaven.” Spoiler alert: it’s BAD and I love it. And there’s other fun stuff in the pipeline.
Cancer is the fucking worst. But I don’t want to be sad all the time. I don’t want to stop laughing and wearing cute outfits and squeezing my hot boyfriend’s lil’ tush and talking shit with my friends. I want to have a good time, ideally for a long time. And I want to share with you all as I ride this weird wave to better days.
So welcome to Sick Daze. Let’s be brave chicks together.
Official request for Sick Daze: the Podcast
Thank you 🙏
Love you so much, genius