Author: Aaron

A few years ago time and genetics caught up with me. I remember very clearly the day Makoto shaved my head the first time with clippers while I sat in the bathtub. It’s become a bi-weekly ritual for us. How odd it was then that a little over a week ago Makoto and I traded…

What a week. 2020 feels like a waking up from a nightmare into a new, somehow worse nightmare. San Francisco is now in a shelter-in-place mode. Schools are closed. Both our offices are work from home. It’s also raining a lot. My dad is here supporting us and has basically taken over Soren’s schooling, which…

Here are good things that have happened: Zero problems with the infusions. After the first week the surgeon said that on examination, the tumor has become soft. That’s good after a week. After yet another week the oncologist mentioned that the tumor has become quite soft now and is flatter. Another good sign. We heard…

Makoto and I both want to write a bit more about this subject in the near future, but Triple Negative Breast Cancer is an underfunded condition right now in terms of research dollars, etc. There are reasons for this, some of them historical, some practical, but others ugly. One thing that Makoto has thought a…

So far after this first round, the only problems for Makoto have been flu-like symptoms. Fever, chills, joint pain, aches, malaise, etc. Thankfully they can be mostly controlled through medication and it does seem like it’s getting better each day. While it’s difficult for her, she’s getting a lot of rest, and hopefully the symptoms…

Here are good things that have happened today: A nurse quietly whispered to Makoto, “You are so lucky to have Dr. Oncologist and Dr. Oncology Surgeon.” She also said, “You are so lucky to be on this trial. I’ve seen tumors just melt away!” Makoto had no allergic reactions or initial bad reactions to any…

I made an update earlier today but I realized my mailer didn’t notify anyone but myself. I just figured out why, so posting this should update everyone. My new post was here.

Just wanted to put a quick note at the top of this to say thanks to everyone for signing up and reaching out. We have received many emails and haven’t had time to go through them all, but it feels good to have everyone’s support. Right now it feels like we are a set of…

A few weeks ago, during what we hoped was an examination of a simple cyst, Makoto was diagnosed with breast cancer. During the whirlwind of followup appointments, scans, etc. it was determined that she has Stage IIa, Triple Negative, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. The plain English version is that this is an aggressive cancer, but we…