Rebecca K
@datarebecca.bsky.social
Data nerd, mother of boys, breast cancer survivor. Granddaughter of immigrants.
How I came to patient advocacy:
I chased down the exploratory-analysis that was interpreted to say I should have a more aggressive cancer treatment. And the subsequent paper that said otherwise and got lost in the pandemic.
While recovering from surgery for said cancer.
I chased down the exploratory-analysis that was interpreted to say I should have a more aggressive cancer treatment. And the subsequent paper that said otherwise and got lost in the pandemic.
While recovering from surgery for said cancer.
December 26, 2025 at 11:20 PM
How I came to patient advocacy:
I chased down the exploratory-analysis that was interpreted to say I should have a more aggressive cancer treatment. And the subsequent paper that said otherwise and got lost in the pandemic.
While recovering from surgery for said cancer.
I chased down the exploratory-analysis that was interpreted to say I should have a more aggressive cancer treatment. And the subsequent paper that said otherwise and got lost in the pandemic.
While recovering from surgery for said cancer.
I am forever grateful to a good genetic counselor who pushed to change my screening plan.
September 25, 2025 at 12:19 AM
I am forever grateful to a good genetic counselor who pushed to change my screening plan.
wait wait wait they'd give tamoxifen from 40-45 for the 17%-32% risk group. I'm new-ish in this world, and not from the UK, but have enough family history to express surprise.
September 2, 2025 at 12:26 AM
wait wait wait they'd give tamoxifen from 40-45 for the 17%-32% risk group. I'm new-ish in this world, and not from the UK, but have enough family history to express surprise.
I started by deciding to be "AI forward" for a week and forced myself to try AI whenever it felt plausible, and work through the hiccups. I ended the week with a decent sense of when I like it and when I hate it; it's part of my regular workflow now.
ymmv
ymmv
August 12, 2025 at 10:08 PM
I started by deciding to be "AI forward" for a week and forced myself to try AI whenever it felt plausible, and work through the hiccups. I ended the week with a decent sense of when I like it and when I hate it; it's part of my regular workflow now.
ymmv
ymmv
Yeah if I need one variable as the marker and one as the dottedness and also want a nice legend, AI is so good at that. It's comically bad at actually-new libraries because they're not in stackoverflow et al in the training set.
August 12, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Yeah if I need one variable as the marker and one as the dottedness and also want a nice legend, AI is so good at that. It's comically bad at actually-new libraries because they're not in stackoverflow et al in the training set.
Reading API/docs for a new-to-you library that you'll need as a one-off I'd definitely let an AI take a first stab. Results may be mixed and you may have to edit and go back and forth a bit but it's useful to start trying it and learn where it's useful.
August 10, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reading API/docs for a new-to-you library that you'll need as a one-off I'd definitely let an AI take a first stab. Results may be mixed and you may have to edit and go back and forth a bit but it's useful to start trying it and learn where it's useful.
I use AI because work has a pretty good python AI integration. I LOVE it for tedious things ("ok take this thing I wrote, put this loop around it, figure out what else you need to fix.") It's terrible for some things but I'm happy to know what those are. It also makes way better graphs than I do.
August 10, 2025 at 2:28 PM
I use AI because work has a pretty good python AI integration. I LOVE it for tedious things ("ok take this thing I wrote, put this loop around it, figure out what else you need to fix.") It's terrible for some things but I'm happy to know what those are. It also makes way better graphs than I do.
Wait wait wait solo-estrogen is protective?! (And I need to belong to an institution that has access to medical journals.)
July 4, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Wait wait wait solo-estrogen is protective?! (And I need to belong to an institution that has access to medical journals.)
YES this, I am coming up on 5 years and have spent the past four coming to terms with the fact that "stage 1 cancer survivor" is a low-level chronic illness, which I did not have before.
April 16, 2025 at 11:27 PM
YES this, I am coming up on 5 years and have spent the past four coming to terms with the fact that "stage 1 cancer survivor" is a low-level chronic illness, which I did not have before.
huh I hear about cold capping every few weeks in a survivor group and I've never heard anyone ask about this. (I was lucky enough to not get chemo)
January 22, 2025 at 2:04 AM
huh I hear about cold capping every few weeks in a survivor group and I've never heard anyone ask about this. (I was lucky enough to not get chemo)
I want a weight-watcher style point system, complete with a target, for my avoiding-recurrence choices.
January 16, 2025 at 1:01 AM
I want a weight-watcher style point system, complete with a target, for my avoiding-recurrence choices.
1. Good.
2. Now do all the others!
2. Now do all the others!
January 12, 2025 at 11:41 PM
1. Good.
2. Now do all the others!
2. Now do all the others!
The Washington Post had an article a few years ago on picking a "nudge word" instead of resolutions and that's been a helpful framing for me. Reflecting and picking the word is a powerful exercise onto itself.
January 2, 2025 at 1:31 AM
The Washington Post had an article a few years ago on picking a "nudge word" instead of resolutions and that's been a helpful framing for me. Reflecting and picking the word is a powerful exercise onto itself.
Adding - non-bc-specialist doctor awareness and education!
My obgyn was dismissive of my concerns about family history in a convo about hormonal birth control and the right answer was EXACTLY OPPOSITE - to send me to a genetic counselor or something, I didn't know to ask for that but he should have.
My obgyn was dismissive of my concerns about family history in a convo about hormonal birth control and the right answer was EXACTLY OPPOSITE - to send me to a genetic counselor or something, I didn't know to ask for that but he should have.
December 28, 2024 at 11:24 PM
Adding - non-bc-specialist doctor awareness and education!
My obgyn was dismissive of my concerns about family history in a convo about hormonal birth control and the right answer was EXACTLY OPPOSITE - to send me to a genetic counselor or something, I didn't know to ask for that but he should have.
My obgyn was dismissive of my concerns about family history in a convo about hormonal birth control and the right answer was EXACTLY OPPOSITE - to send me to a genetic counselor or something, I didn't know to ask for that but he should have.
Sort of. But you wouldn't have thought "carefully check the math" was something you needed to request before this. I feel like the trick is that it's a different gotcha each time. (Though: a big careful prompt of basic things you should just check would still be a win.)
December 17, 2024 at 12:09 AM
Sort of. But you wouldn't have thought "carefully check the math" was something you needed to request before this. I feel like the trick is that it's a different gotcha each time. (Though: a big careful prompt of basic things you should just check would still be a win.)
WOW I feel like "high interactions with tamoxifen" whatever that means is something doctors should be more vocal about with patients (esp in areas where cannabis is easily accessible). I've discussed alcohol with my doctor but I think never cannabis.
December 11, 2024 at 1:47 AM
WOW I feel like "high interactions with tamoxifen" whatever that means is something doctors should be more vocal about with patients (esp in areas where cannabis is easily accessible). I've discussed alcohol with my doctor but I think never cannabis.
Oh, and about the “routine screening” at age 41.5: that took tremendous helpings of both luck and privilege plus a pretty awful family history. Access to screening feels personal for me and I’m always here for a conversation about expanding access, especially if I can bring my data-nerd self to it.
November 25, 2024 at 1:24 AM
Oh, and about the “routine screening” at age 41.5: that took tremendous helpings of both luck and privilege plus a pretty awful family history. Access to screening feels personal for me and I’m always here for a conversation about expanding access, especially if I can bring my data-nerd self to it.
Oh, and about the “routine screening” at age 41.5: that took tremendous helpings of both luck and privilege plus a pretty awful family history. Access to screening feels personal for me and I’m always here for a conversation about expanding access, especially if I can bring my data-nerd self to it.
November 25, 2024 at 1:23 AM
Oh, and about the “routine screening” at age 41.5: that took tremendous helpings of both luck and privilege plus a pretty awful family history. Access to screening feels personal for me and I’m always here for a conversation about expanding access, especially if I can bring my data-nerd self to it.
As a non-med who looks at data all day I REALLY wish the buckets had been 0-6 and 6-12 years to align with the LNG-IUS window since the "adjustment for censoring" would be doing less work here. BUT still looks like a clear effect even in the 0-5 group.
November 18, 2024 at 1:54 AM
As a non-med who looks at data all day I REALLY wish the buckets had been 0-6 and 6-12 years to align with the LNG-IUS window since the "adjustment for censoring" would be doing less work here. BUT still looks like a clear effect even in the 0-5 group.