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A Breast Cancer Notebook: My Story in Paper and Glue

Victoria Behm, 59, an artist living in New York City, was diagnosed with stage IIa invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer when she was 57 years old. Using her skills as an artist, she created an illustrated notebook of her nine-month journey through breast cancer treatment.

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Enough of the West, let's look East

Hari om, hari om, hari, hari, hari om is a yoga chant in Sanskrit meaning harmony. My neighborhood yoga studio caters to all flexibility levels, from the triple-jointed to me, the lock-limbed. Even though much of the session requires reclining and sitting on the floor, I felt limber, balanced, calm, invigorated.

St. Vincent’s CCC offers teas and poultices to complement Western scalpels and radiation. Eastern medicine specialist Ooi-Thye Chong sent me to Chinatown pharmacies with a grocery list written in Chinese.

I bought dried flowers and berries to make a urine-colored tea that cools the body. I made poultices of rags dipped into a strong black tea and plastered them onto my radiated spot (easy to find from the tattoos). Like vinegar, tea draws out heat, but smells better. For weeks we had brown rags drying around the apartment.

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