For those of you who follow my blog, first let me apologize for being MIA once again. It seems to be an annual occurrence – me, missing in action during the summer months. Although I did upload a post on July 20th entitled Healing From Trauma, I truthfully haven’t written or invested time in my blog since. I wish I…
Courage
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…
And so we find ourselves near the end – the end of the school year, the end of grade 3, the end of primary level. This month signifies a great shift in our home. As I sleep-walk through this month, overwhelmed with the memories of mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies, an MRI, blood and genetic testing, as well as a mastectomy, all…
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…
I have not written of late. I have been struggling with content. It isn’t because I am at a loss for stories to share. It is just that my stories all seem so small compared to those from the dramatic turn of world events. I am struggling to comprehend, to process, and to express all that I am feeling in…
’Twas the week before Christmas,when all through the landOmicron was threateningWhile closures expand. Travel was cancelled,To people’s dismayOmicron was prevalentIt was here to stay. Work from home ordersCame down through the ranks,While schedules were changingMany people’s hearts sank. It had been two years since weenjoyed Christmas timeThis COVID pandemicIs this century’s crime. When out in the worldHealthcare workers keep giving,Their…
No one tells you what life will really be like when you grow older. Perhaps because no one really knows your journey – even I didn’t know my journey when I was many, many years younger. All I had was an idea – an ambitious dream. I was going to be an actor. Not just an actor, but a working…
“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…
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…
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…