Are you sitting down?

It’s taken me 10 months to write this post. The words still echoing in my head when my doctor called that day and gave me the devastating news I had metastatic breast cancer. I was just starting to move on with my life post cancer. I had been back to work for 2.5 years, had...

Back to work – one year later

While all the kids were heading in for their first week of school lately, I was celebrating one year being back at work. It feels like just yesterday that I was digging out my work clothes out from the back of the closet. Excited but nervous to get back after being away for 2.5 years....

Why I took a break from hormone therapy

I often get asked why I stopped hormone therapy. Why I would stop taking something that could potentially be saving my life. And there are times I feel guilty for it. Knowing I have this option out there and feeling like it may be viewed as being careless. It’s hard to even write this and...

Scanxiety coming in hot

Sometimes I find myself holding my breath. My subconscious waiting for this bad dream to all be over. And then I come back to reality again and realize I’m still here, that cloud of uncertainty looming over my head as I head in for another scan wondering is this the time? Back at the hospital...

Three years

Three years. Three years since I heard those words “you have cancer”. The moment it felt like my world had ripped away. That I was no longer just living my life, I was doing anything I could to survive. Three years of treatments, surgeries, scans upon scans, poking, prodding, and so many tears. When I...

Breast cancer is a lifelong journey, but so are the friendships

"Breast cancer is a life long journey, but so are the friendships." – Jen Merschdorf, fearless leader, YSC. Last weekend, I went to the YSC Summit in Austin, a three-day conference put on by the Young Survival Coalition for young women diagnosed with breast cancer between the ages of 18 and 40 along with their...

The reconstruction saga continues: Part 1

When is enough, enough? I kept asking myself that same question everyday. Breast reconstruction is never a perfect process and I’ve spoken openly about my surgeries in the past (here and here) because I know I’m not alone. I had high hopes going into my last surgery but found myself feeling deflated the moment I...

What to Pack for Day Surgery

Getting all packed up and ready to go for my fourth surgery first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll be undergoing breast revisions including fat grafting and removing excess skin with the hopes that this will be my last surgery. Although I am supposed to be in and out of the hospital within the same day, there...

My Story

Over a month ago, I was busy celebrating my 34th birthday, working like crazy, and looking forward to a girls getaway in Vegas with my best friend.  Until life decided that it had another plan for me...a journey through Stage 2 breast cancer. Let's back this bus up a little further to the end of...