You know the saying ‘bad things happen in 3s?’ Well I am here to tell you that that theory is a bunch of phooey. Here are the major bad things that have happened to my family so far in 2016: My mother-in-law died after a heroic, long battle with ovarian cancer Her husband, my stepfather-in-law,…
Tag: #breastcancer
Your Friendly Local Cancerlebrity
A funny thing has started to happen. About once or twice a week, I will get recognized while I am out and about. Now let me clarify, I am just your average minivan driving, yoga pant wearing suburban mom, but since I have plastered my face on an overwhelmingly candid blog, people have started to…
Fall From Grace (Wait For It…)
Last night my husband and I attended a black tie Gala for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. We were there as guests of my husband’s place of business so we didn’t have any personal ties other than the fact that I went to the symphony with my grandparents as a child and have very fond memories…
Aesthetics and Athletics
For those of you who haven’t read every word of every blog I’ve written, allow me to tell you that the t-shirt I am wearing in the above photo is a professional photo of my God-given breasts. I had t-shirts made of my breasts for all of my family to wear to my mastectomy cause…
Rebound
Slowly but surely, progress is being made. I still have bad days where I have physical limitations such as exhaustion, headaches, hot flashes and lack of sleep. I am still bald as a bat (are bats really bald?), and dripping fluid from my eyes and nose (cute!), and I’m either still swollen or chubby (let’s…
Stud to Spud
Less than 6 months ago I was in, what I would consider for myself, fantastic shape. I was muscular, toned and svelte. I worked hard for it, but honestly, not that hard. I did either bikram yoga, running or boxing 6 days a week. It took dedication, but it wasn’t hard. In fact, exercising was often…
Lymphedon’t
I had my long awaited appointment with the lymph specialist doctor this week. Shocker alert! I have been officially diagnosed with mild lymphedema. The great (read: horrendous) news is that this is a life-long condition. I will be worried about my arm swelling for the REST OF MY LIFE. Thank you breast cancer. You are the…
Sloth University
It’s been over two weeks since my final chemo. I was honestly expecting to be in a much better place than I am by this point. Not so much. Yes, I do feel somehow better as a whole, but the individual parts seem to be continuing to break down. For example- my eyes and nose…
Second Opinion/I Am Never Not Hot
Probably seems a bit odd to seek a second opinion after I have already had 3 surgeries, 4 drains, 4 rounds of chemotherapy and 2 infections. I never felt I needed a true second opinion from a hospital system outside of the one I have been working with. My doctors would always ‘present my case’…
Hurricane Cancer
I am a bit of a scaredy cat. I get spooked really easily (i.e. Phil Collins’ Land of Confusion, which could be blamed for ruining my entire childhood). Mix this with anxiety and you have a cute little cocktail of I cannot even think about that or I’ll never sleep again. Here is a short list…
Live Report from The Chemo Bunker
See what’s happening in this photo? I am simultaneously freezing and wearing a blanket around my face, but also boiling and have an ice pack on my head. Oh chemo, you’re so silly. Let’s discuss ‘Cancer Normal.’ ‘Normal’ is hard to define under any circumstances. When you are talking about statistics, normal becomes a pretty…
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