Tracy Ruckman

I promised readers of The Pink Pages that I would provide occasional updates on my cancer journey, so here’s the latest. I’m grateful these updates are getting shorter and less frequent. Tuesday, I visited my favorite doctor - my surgeon. Never thought a surgeon could be on my list of favorite people, but this one is the best, even before today’s appointment. He removed the Medi-port! As I was driving to his office, I was praying and thanking God for the inventor of the Medi-port device (the apparatus also known by other names including port-a-cath.) At one point during my waiting time, I calculated that the Medi-port had saved me sticks from at least 18 IV needles and all the pain, anxiety, and aggravation that would have gone along with each one. What a blessing that Medi-port was for 16 months. I’m truly grateful. I’m equally grateful that it is now gone. The procedure was done in the surgeon’s office and took less than 15 minutes. I laughed when they asked if I wanted to keep the ...

Until my cancer diagnosis, I’d never heard of hospital Navigators. But now that I have, I think EVERY hospital should have navigators on staff. I’d like to introduce you to Felicia, my own Navigator.  Felicia went to most of my doctor’s appointments with me – all year – and took notes. At first, I thought the notes were for her records or for the doctor’s, but after each visit, she handed me the note paper for my own records. She visited me during each treatment. She called me every week between treatments to check on me, offer encouragement, made note of any side effects and advised me if I needed to alert the doc’s office (like with the blood clots from my nose). She answered any questions I had along the way. She helped me navigate through the maze of all things medical – which hospital/clinic/facility I needed to be for which test/procedure, etc. (Rome has three major hospitals, but they offer different procedures, equipment, or doctors for the cancer journey. And during the ti...

I promised readers of The Pink Pages that I would update my journey here on my blog. I saved several updates for one post, so I’ll share them in chronological order like the book’s journal entries. DEXA Bone Scan Friday, May 10, 2024 With my chemo nurses, l-r: Paige, Emily, and Laura Today was my next-to-last Herceptin infusion and then I had a DEXA bone scan. Both went well. The bone scan was probably the easiest test/procedure I had the entire journey. They told me to wear clothes without buttons or zippers, so I wore leggings and a t-shirt. They had me lie down on a table, positioned my legs slightly, and then ran the scan over my hips and legs. I asked why not the whole body, and they said the hips were the best indicator if there was osteoporosis in the bones, and if it was there, it was everywhere. Took no more than 10 minutes total. The results came back that afternoon, and they were all clear - no signs of osteoporosis. So grateful. Cancer Support Group Monday, May 20, 2024 I ...

Today is an exciting day in so many aspects. As this blog post goes live, I am on my way to my final Herceptin infusion - the end of a very long year of chemotherapy, radiation, and Herceptin infusions, plus all the procedures and doc visits that go along with it! [SEE UPDATE BELOW!] Today is also LAUNCH DAY for two new books: The Pink Pages: A Practical A-Z Guide for Your Breast Cancer Journey is available in paperback and Kindle formats . and Days to Remember: A Journal for Your Cancer Journey is available in paperback . (The journal works for patients with any type of cancer.) A portion of the proceeds from the sales of these books will be donated to the Cancer Navigators and the Komen Foundation. Both organizations were extremely helpful to me during my journey, so I’m grateful to return the favor. At the end of this journey, the one emotion that stands out above all else is one of gratitude. I’m so grateful to God for allowing me to survive this journey. I’m so grateful that He ga...

American musician Steven Adler (Guns N’ Roses) said, “I look in the mirror and see a few scars, but I like myself.” Until recently, I couldn’t look in a mirror. As a kid, I never really thought much about the way I looked, but I still encountered many criticisms of being too short, too plump, too busty, etc. Between 4th and 5th grades, I added glasses to the mix and I gained a lot of weight, so my fifth grade school picture was atrocious. So bad, in fact, that I destroyed all the pictures I could get my hands on, but it still went in the year book. When I began entering puberty, that weight gain redistributed itself, and eventually I began to appreciate my looks. But in my early 40s, I began avoiding mirrors. I didn’t like the way I looked and the negative voices ruled the way I felt about myself for 20 years. [Oh - and I realized after I posted, I needed to clarify something. The negativity isn’t coming from my husband. He’s loving, kind, and supportive. But I let the voices of the pa...

As 2022 ended, I had plans. Nothing extravagant, but perhaps a couple of adventures and a fall conference to prepare for and attend. But I quickly learned that God had other plans, and I’d rather be in His plans than anywhere else. I’ve not publicly shared this story for family reasons, but with this week’s milestone, the roughest part is over so I’m now able to go public and offer my support, encouragement, and prayers for anyone else on a similar trek. This new journey began 9 months ago. Armed with the full armor of God, a healthy dose of faith and hope, and surrounding myself with a small army of MIGHTY Prayer Warriors, I set out to do battle. The first week of February this year, I performed the monthly shower breast exam like I’ve done since … forever, I think. As usual, nothing out of the ordinary, but a few days later, on February 10th, when I was changing clothes, I glanced in the mirror and noticed a golf-ball sized knot at the top of my left breast. It felt squishy – like th...