Tag

Breast Cancer

Love and Loss

These past few weeks have been emotional. I said my final good-bye to someone I loved, and then I learned of the abrupt loss of a beautiful friend. Two people whose light has forever dimmed, and my heart aches for the loss. “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss I have always been mindful of…

Healing from Trauma

June was challenging. I slept walked through most of it, working hard at keeping emotions, memories, and phantom sensations at bay. Seven years since diagnosis. Seven years since multiple mammograms, ultrasounds, scans, blood work, biopsies, and a mastectomy all in a span of 22 days. And my journey has not ended. The healing begins after the trauma. And healing takes…

…The Heat is On…

Last June I composed a list of six – six natural deodorants I have personally tried since my breast cancer diagnosis, where I highlighted the pros and cons of each deodorant in hopes to share some insight. You can view that list in my post Hot Time Sweating in the City . However, a year has since passed. I no…

The Power of a Word

Cancer. It is a foreboding word. When spoken aloud, the word cancer can elicit an array of powerful emotions – shock, dread, fear, isolation, loneliness, terror, panic, anger, sadness, anguish… Cancer. I remember vividly, the multitude of overwhelming emotions I felt when I knew the radiologist found cancer in my breast. I remember the icy sensation that seeped through my…

Essential Oils – Are They Safe?

I love using essential oils – drops of frankincense oil mixed with whipped organic shea butter as a topical ointment has provided me with relief from swelling caused by lymphedema; lavender oil mixed in a carrier oil and rubbed on my pressure points eases my anxiety as do drops of lavender oil in my diffuser to induce relaxation and calm;…

A Way Through the Clouds

It is exactly three years to the day since I penned my blog post Cloudy, reflecting upon my physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. And here I am, three years later, finding myself in that similar state. Cloudy – all around and within me feels cloudy. I feel scattered, anxious, and irritable; and I struggle to maintain focus, clarity, and patience….

Wishes for the New Year

I have spent the final days of 2021 reading through blogs with the tagged post This Time Next Year. The idea of this tag is to write a post outlining your resolutions for the new year, how you are going to achieve those resolutions, and then, 365 days later write a post about whether or not you were successful. It’s…

Together We Can Do So Much

“Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” – Eckhart Tolle October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Although we are 3 weeks into the month, with the month drawing to a close, keeping the conversations open, the donations flowing, and the overall awareness of the disease in the forefront of our minds remains ever-important. Why is there a Breast Cancer Awareness…

Happiness in Hygge

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…

A Story to Tell

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…