climbing out of the what-if hole

I wrote this first part in early August…. As I near the end of the acute phase of cancer treatments I’m lifting my head to look around and beginning to acknowledge that what-if hole that was too scary to look into during treatment. The one that whispers in...

Better days are ahead

Fifteen radiation treatments started July 20, two months after surgery and after a month of a life that felt pretty darn normal. This has been the most emotionally challenging step thus far which is weird since it’s a pretty easy ride in terms of the physical...

Reinventing normal

I’ve started and stopped this blog post multiple times in the past month. There are days when I almost forget that I’m still in the middle of cancer treatment, which is a good thing, but then things like doctor’s appointments or the swelling in my...

WOOHOO no surprises!

“No surprises” is what I heard each from my general surgeon, plastic surgeon and GP as I lay in my recovery bed the day after surgery. Big sigh of relief. In the back of my mind I was a little worried that I’d wake up and they’d say that they...

Pre-surgery emotional roller coaster

One of the ways that I deal with stress is to become very analytical. Warning, analytical medical nerdery ahead. Tomorrow (May 20) am having oncoplastic breast conserving surgery in my left breast, axillary dissection of the lymph nodes on the left side, and reduction...

Transition

It’s been awhile since I posted an update, not because nothing is happening, but because what’s happening has been hard to describe. A good friend who recently went through her own cancer journey suggested that I make an appointment with the counsellors at...