Recognizing that I never used to set healthy boundaries – What does that look like to engage in that process in an act of self-preservation, self-care and compassion towards self? How do I unlearn this old programming where I thought to put me first was a sign of selfishness? Forreal, to put me first has been a struggle!
IBC is real and it doesn’t always appear like a typical breast cancer diagnosis. Pain, swelling, discoloration, change in appearance are all a part of IBC. If any doctor tells you that breast cancer doesn’t hurt, that’s a lie.
This body got me through cancer, and I am proud of it. By being vocal and sharing my story and images I hope that surgery without reconstruction becomes less of an outlier, and more of a viable choice for young women.
To tell or not to tell, is the million dollar question as it relates to when you believe it’s the perfect time to share your breast cancer diagnosis with family or friends. Even more importantly, when do you share with your children?
Day in and day out, putting on this facade with my family and friends was wearing me thin.
Caregivers are real life superheroes who just don’t wear capes. They trade their capes for silent tears, sleepless nights and mental fatigue.
It didn’t matter I was lonely, scared, broken and confused. I had to do the work if I wanted to get better, so I did just that! Cancer, one-sided relationships, burdens and unhealthy habits have been removed from my life. I have stepped into new business ventures and put that well used ambition and tenacity into motion.
There’s just something about walking into an office covered in a color that’s almost synonymous with the disease you’re trying to discover you have. A disease that will change the course of your life as you know it.
I’m hoping to learn from all of this — each and every day moving forward, letting the universe do its thing, as I understand my purpose. I’d love to be able to speak to other women and help in any way I can.
I wasn’t quite sure of what that really meant because somehow I always thought love was supposed to come from somewhere or somebody else. But during my treatments, I came to realize I could love myself more. I could love the me that was hairless, weak and scared just as much as I could love the me who is fierce, strong and driven.
