While all the kids were heading in for their first week of school lately, I was celebrating one year being back at work. It feels like just yesterday that I was digging out my work clothes out from the back of the closet. Excited but nervous to get back after being away for 2.5 years. [...]
Why I took a break from hormone therapy
I often get asked why I stopped hormone therapy. Why I would stop taking something that could potentially be saving my life. And there are times I feel guilty for it. Knowing I have this option out there and feeling like it may be viewed as being careless. It’s hard to even write this and [...]
Scanxiety coming in hot
Sometimes I find myself holding my breath. My subconscious waiting for this bad dream to all be over. And then I come back to reality again and realize I’m still here, that cloud of uncertainty looming over my head as I head in for another scan wondering is this the time? Back at the hospital [...]
Three years
Three years. Three years since I heard those words “you have cancer”. The moment it felt like my world had ripped away. That I was no longer just living my life, I was doing anything I could to survive. Three years of treatments, surgeries, scans upon scans, poking, prodding, and so many tears. When I [...]
Breast cancer is a lifelong journey, but so are the friendships
"Breast cancer is a life long journey, but so are the friendships." – Jen Merschdorf, fearless leader, YSC. Last weekend, I went to the YSC Summit in Austin, a three-day conference put on by the Young Survival Coalition for young women diagnosed with breast cancer between the ages of 18 and 40 along with their [...]
So Long Surgeries – Reconstruction Zone Complete
I’ve spent the last 2.5 years planning my life from one surgery to the next, this constant cloud hanging over my head. The prepping, the worry, the anticipation, the uncertainty. I’m not going to sugar coat it. Breast reconstruction has been hard. Now, as I sit here three works post op, still sore, tender and [...]
Never alone
Social media and the power of technology are an amazing thing. A couple of months ago, I began using the Breast Cancer Healthline app, an app designed for people living with breast cancer and to find community to carry each other through this storm. When I was first diagnosed, I felt scared and isolated but [...]
Finding Support and Community with the new Breast Cancer Healthline App
Going through a cancer diagnosis can be very isolating. There are times where I’ve felt so lonely through my diagnosis. Scared and uncertain of what the future holds. Not knowing what to expect or if what I was feeling was normal. When I was first diagnosed, I scoured the Internet trying desperately to find other [...]
Hi Ho back to work I go
Just over two years ago, I was tying up loose ends at the office, passing off my work and leaving everything behind to start my fight against breast cancer and focus on my healing. I naively thought I would be back within 6 months but as many now, things don't always go as planned through [...]
An Open Letter to My Body
I never felt like you were good enough. From the time I was an adolescent into my teens, I was embarrassed of you. Changing shyly in the bathroom, afraid to show others the mounds that were quickly beginning to form on my chest. The unwanted stares and insults hurled at me as I ventured into adulthood. [...]
