a look into surviving, thriving, and moving forward from breast cancer
Once I had gotten my drains out, finished my tissue expander fills, and my incisions had healed, I couldn’t WAIT to get back to exercising. I’d become really consistent in working out with Recovery on Water, and I missed my team, working hard, and feeling fit. But where was I supposed to start? How do … Continue reading Prehab, Rehab, and Rebuild – Part 3
I remember when I woke up from my mastectomy I was overwhelmed with this incredible sense of RELIEF. Relief that I had woken up on the other side. Relief that I wasn’t in horrendous pain. Relief that I had faced this beast head on, and that I DID IT. But once that started to settle, … Continue reading Prehab, Rehab, and Rebuild – Part 2
When I first had my mastectomy and reconstruction, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be comfortable being upside down again. Let me back track for a second. I love gymnastics. I’ve never been good at it, but I competed in high school and at the club level in college. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer … Continue reading Prehab, Rehab, and Rebuild
Ah well, another October is here. For many of you, it simply means the start of Fall, apple picking, tailgates (Go Blue), and sweater weather. But for those of us affected by breast cancer in any way, we often recognize October as “Pink-tober”, or what you might call Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Stores will have … Continue reading The Pink Dawning of October
I promise I’m not here to lecture you, and certainly not here to take you on a journey through academia, but I am here to remind everyone just how important research is when it comes to healthcare. To start - research is literally the reason why we have the treatments that we use today. That … Continue reading The Importance of Research
Something I’ve started to realize about life, and especially about life post cancer, is that it’s all just a series of highs and lows. We spend the high days on top of the world, and spend the low ones waiting it out until the next high. Over the last week and a half I had … Continue reading Highest of Highs and Lowest of Lows
Survivorship… what a loaded word. Every time I think I understand what it truly means, I manage to get flipped on my head and feel like I have to start processing it all over again. I remember being diagnosed and thinking it would just be one long year of treatment, and then I’d be calling … Continue reading How I Really Feel About The Word “Survivor”
One of the biggest things I noticed after my diagnosis and during treatment was how much cancer changed my relationship with my body. I’ve personally gone through a lot of highs and lows with my body and the way that I think about it and view it. I’ve fought through disordered eating, poor body image, … Continue reading Exercise and Cancer
When someone says, “tell me about yourself”, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Do you identify mostly with your job? What about with your diagnosis? For me, I think one of the biggest struggles I’ve had since finding out I had breast cancer was figuring out how I really see myself, and how … Continue reading Finding Your Identity Post-Diagnosis
Today I received my 19th infusion… that’s just insane to me. I remember when I was facing 6 rounds of chemo, and a year of infusions and it seemed like I’d never get to this point - yet here we are. The original plan was for one full year of infusions (~17-18 depending on how … Continue reading Chemo Must-Haves
Affirmations From Cancer 