My lesson learned throughout my cancer journey has been to find your motivation and use it to turn new beginnings into new opportunities, whatever those may be. Give yourself time to feel. Feel scared. Feel vulnerable. Feel angry. And then feel strong.
Tag: Breast Cancer
Connections & Compassion
“Vulnerability attracts honesty, honesty attracts soul connections.” November 3, 2016 I am officially a third of the way done with radiation. So far, all is going well with no major side effects. I’m tired, and my body is still trying to eliminate all the toxins left over from chemo, but I continue to push through, some days probably too much. Second round of x-rays show the radiation rays are still going where they’re supposed to be; I’m slowly developing a nice tan from those rays, and I smell daily of fresh aloe with a trace of Aquaphor. I have to Read More
In Sickness and In Health
“As long as we both shall live.” || October 4, 2016 Tuesday morning travels to Albany are something we have gotten used to; not having an appointment last week left us feeling like we were forgetting to do something. Today marked my first follow up appointment after finishing chemo and even though I wasn’t going to be spending my day in the brown chair, the drive felt the same: Not saying much to each other, still feeling nervous, trying to remember questions you never wrote down because “I’ll remember, I don’t need to write it down”, wondering which nurse will draw Read More
Margot’s Story of Strength
“Strength grows in the moments when you think you can’t go on, but you keep going anyway.” In the Winter of 2016, I was a third of the way done with radiation; eleven sessions completed out of the total thirty-three. I was tired, and my body was still trying to eliminate all the toxins left over from the sixteen chemotherapy treatments I had received throughout the six months prior, but I continued to push through, some days probably too much. My second round of x-rays showed the radiation rays were still going where they were supposed to be; I was slowly Read More
A Grandmother’s Love
“Those we love don’t go away, they walk beside us everyday. Unseen, unheard but always near. Still loved, still missed, and held so dear.” This road we have traveled since April of 2016 has been filled with up’s and down’s, a true test of strength and determination, always a case of mind over matter, and a whole lot of letting go of expectations and just living life one day at a time. The decision to move forward with chemotherapy treatment was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make, while at the same time allowing myself to be Read More
Two Years Later
“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning”. – Gloria Steinem “You are a very healthy human.” – Zoe Weinstein, MD 672 days earlier, Dr. Weinstein’s words were quite the opposite as they were today. That late March day in 2016, I sat at my desk in my office full of hope and full of positive thoughts that the lump in my left breast was not in fact cancerous and was merely a benign fibroid. Zoe’s phone call that afternoon suddenly turned my world upside down. “You have Read More
Spring Blips
“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature. The assurance that dawn comes after night, and Spring after Winter.” – Rachel Carson Spring has always been by one of my favorite seasons, falling second only to the crisp days of Fall. It’s the season of new green grass, blooming flowers and the time to plant new seeds, both in our gardens and in our lives. Spring 2016 was a season filled with what would one year later be referred merely to as a “blip”. It was the season of my cancer diagnosis; the season that my cancer Read More
Moments in Time
“Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the romance of the unusual.”
One Year Later
One Year Later One year ago today, my life changed in a way I had least expected it to. March 10, 2016. I woke up to a warmer, spring-like day, got the kids ready for school, walked down to the bus stop taking in the fresh air, blue skies, and the kids, excitedly recognizing the fresh green blades of grass that had recently popped up from the now unfrozen ground of what was a very cold winter. It was a normal day. Until my 2:00 pm appointment with Julie. I was so excited to see her; not many people can Read More
Cancer Is Like a Snowstorm
February 2, 2017 “Cancer is like a snowstorm. Every snowflake is different just like every cancer tumor is different.” – Dr. Barry Taylor, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center “It’s impossible,” said pride. “It’s risky,” said experience. “It’s pointless,” said reason. “Give it a try,” whispered the heart.” This quote popped up in my memories from a year ago. Similar to the note I found to my parents a year after it was written, I questioned why I would have saved this last year, forgetting it was there sitting in my phone all this time. Saved prior to my diagnosis, prior Read More