Over these past few days I have kept busy diligently deep cleaning our home, and reorganizing as well as decluttering our space. I still have much to do, and I am trying to balance the tasks between my husband’s work-from-home schedule, my child’s school schedule, and my own work schedule. What would normally take four full days of deep cleaning…
Surviving Cancer
All the challenges, fears, anxieties, and struggles that come with surviving cancer; as well as insight, hopefulness, blessings, and useful advice.
June is a challenging month for me. It marks the occasion I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Each year that memory floods my conscious thought. I remember the gripping fear, the dimly lit room, the feel of the warm gel on my chest, the beeps and whirs from the machine, and the sound of the gun snap the moment the…
As the warm weather settles upon us, a common [social media] post I often find in my breast cancer support groups, is the search for an effective, natural deodorant. Wishing to eliminate potential risks by applying harsh and potentially hazardous chemicals to our tender armpits we – breast cancer warriors and survivors – want something that is safe for our…
As I reflect upon this pandemic, the duration, the isolation, and the devastation, I cannot help but feel a great sense of bewilderment, perhaps even loss, within myself. My path is altered. My life is changed. It feels so unfamiliar to me. And I know that I have experienced this before. It is a parallel experience lived to that of…
Postmastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) – a chronic pain that does not go away over time. It is a very real condition that can affect women who have had a radical mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy, or breast-conserving surgery. Symptoms can vary from feeling persistent or intermittent pain in the chest, armpit, arm, and/or shoulder. In addition to the chronic pain, there…
We are only 20 days into the third provincial lockdown, yet it feels like months. Probably because here in TO, life has not changed much since November 23, 2020. We have remained in some variation of lockdown for 22 weeks and counting… In the past seven days, Ontario has reported 27,215 new COVID-19 cases, making the rolling average 3,887. Of…
Here we go again. Canada has surpassed 1 million COVID cases since the pandemic began. It is a sobering number, and it comes as we battle what should have been a preventable third wave – a wave proving deadlier to the younger demographic. Canadians in their 40s and 50s are falling seriously ill from the variants of concern and in…
March 2020. The world went still, quiet. People were afraid. The pandemic tore through our society altering how we communicate, work, and play. It altered every aspect of our lives. One year later we have not witnessed the return to normal. Here in Toronto, we are just barely out of lockdown, with most everything remaining closed. It has been 16…
Okay Breast Cancer warriors, lets talk about the after effects, post-adjuvant therapy treatment. I was on Tamoxifen for 5 years. I was fortunate to have minimal side effects – hot flashes, mood swings, sensitive skin, and fatigue being my greatest symptoms – but I was prepared for those. I was mentally prepared to experience many uncomfortable side effects in the…
My joy and love for dance was shelved in the autumn of 2019. I was back to working full days on Saturdays, and as a result it presented a conflict within my schedule. With a heavy heart I had to let go of my adult barre class. I spent those autumn months feeling restless and unbalanced. I was putting financial…