Series: Mary's Story. A Battle With Breast Cancer
In 1997, Mary Herczog found out that, at 33, she had invasive breast cancer. Chemotherapy came next. How did she cope? With fear, realism and humor. In monthly stories, she chronicled her new life -- below are her stories, chronologically, from the top.
June 19, 1996
BODY WATCH
The Buddy System
On Girls' Day Out, most women indulge in activities like tea and manicures. My friends and I? We go for mammograms.
December 8, 1997
Series: Mary's Story. A Battle With Breast Cancer
The Diagnosis
You would think my Times article a year and a half ago about getting a mammogram would have convinced my girlfriends to do regular breast checks. But no. I had to get breast cancer before they would go to the doctor.
January 12, 1998
Series: Mary's Story. A Battle With Breast Cancer
Chemo and Tuna Cravings
What can I say about chemotherapy that hasn't already been written in a million pop songs?
February 9, 1998
Series: Mary's Story: A Battle With Breast Cancer
Inside the Healing Circle
It was on a Monday I learned that the routine biopsy on the lump in my breast might not be so routine, and that it would be a few more days before definitive word. My husband, Steve, and I decided not to tell anyone, to spare needless worry in case this turned out to be nothing.
March 9, 1998
Thank You, Dr. Love God Series: Mary's Story. A battle With Breast Cancer.
Thank You, Dr. Love God
I think I knew anesthesia was all it was cracked up to be when I asked the nurse who was transferring me from the post-op gurney to a hospital bed whether the clock on the wall was right. She said it was. Problem is, right was 1 p.m. I thought it said 7 p.m. I closed my eyes and reopened them. 6 p.m. Did it again. 5. Then I kept my eyes open and watched the hands spin backward, then sideways and finally settle at the correct time.
April 13, 1998
Series: Mary's Story. A Battle With Breast Cancer
She's Feeling Fine, Thanks
Since the more or less halfway point has been reached, it seems a good time to answer the $65,000 question: "How are you doing?" Or, as one teenage friend asked me, "Are you better?"
May 11, 1998
Series: Mary's Story. A Battle With Breast Cancer
Sharing the News, Reading Reactions
When it first appeared possible that I might have breast cancer, it occurred to me to try to keep this news confined to a select few. I know, hard to believe--I am, after all, now writing regularly about it in a newspaper--but, really, the thought crossed my mind. I particularly didn't want to tell my various employers, since my natural inclination is to not let personal matters interfere with work.
June 8, 1998
Series: Mary's Story. A Battle With Breast Cancer
Goodbye, Chemo. Hello, Radiation. Hello, Bliss
Chemo is over. Chemo is over. Chemo is over.
July 13, 1998
Series: Mary's Story. A Battle With Breast Cancer
The Who, What and Why Behind Her Treatment
I thought it was high time to introduce you to the directors of this production I've been starring in, the adorable and delightful total geniuses who are saving my life: Dr. Melvin Silverstein, surgical oncologist, and Dr. James Waisman, medical oncologist. I wanted to chat about some of the decisions behind the big fun they've been putting me through for the last eight months.
August 10, 1998
Series: Mary's Story. A Battle With Breast Cancer
That Was Then, This Is Now
If you are lucky, this is the way cancer treatment ends, not with a bang but a whimper.
March 29, 1999
Series: Mary's Story. A Battle With Breast Cancer
Getting So Much Better All the Time
Mary Susan Herczog chronicled her battle with breast cancer in The Times from December 1997 to August 1998. Today, she updates us.
September 9, 2002
First Person
A New Battle, an Old Foe
It was a typical day at the new house, which meant I was busy dealing with, variously, Carpenter Guy, Plumber Guy, Handyman Guy and, for a change of pace, Computer Guy, when Dr. James Waisman, otherwise known as Oncologist Guy, called.
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