My cancer life
Hello world. I’m Emily Parise. Current 37 year old cancer mutant loving the world. Let me tell you my story.
It actually started in 1987. When I was 2 years old, the doctors found a pre-cancerous tumor on one of my adrenal glands. There was no explanation other than it being a fluke. It was “common in middle aged men.” So it did not make perfect sense. I was left to just live a regular life after surgery to remove the tumor.
Cut to 27 years later. It was 2014. I turned 29 on February 28th. 2 weeks later, March 13, 2014 I was diagnosed with stage 3 triple positive breast cancer. Sigh. I didn’t see it coming. During baseline scans, including my first brain MRI ever in my entire life, they also found a primary brain tumor.
My oncologist, Dr. Diane Buchbarker, is the BEST in the biz. She knew from 3 primary tumors/cancer in my life she should have me tested for Li Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS). A cool cancer mutation of my TP53 gene that helps me collect them all!
I went through chemo, double mastectomy, and 300 other reconstruction surgeries and brain MRIs every 6 months. Everything seemed good the first 3 years, but I started having issues with my brain tumor. April 17, 2017 I had an awake craniotomy! Aka major brain surgery.
I just celebrated 8 years since being diagnosed with breast cancer and the rest is still forever ongoing. This mutant life is forever. I don’t currently have active cancer, my brain tumor is forever growing back and my mutation makes me always be on the watch. I have an amazing family and awesome friends. I’m currently a professional patient living this best mutant life!
To learn more about LFS, click here.