to create inspired healing, wellness & live out loud joy beyond cancer
I just stumbled upon this poem, which I wrote about a year after I had my mastectomy. Part of the struggle of having breast cancer is accepting the damage done to our breasts, which mean so much to us as women, lovers and mothers. Now four years later, although I can't forget the price cancer [...]
"She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon." Groucho Marx It's not easy to walk into a plastic surgeon's office for reconstruction after breast cancer. On my first visit, I sat in the waiting room and fumed. All around me were glossy pamphlets and posters promising "enhancement" and "transformative" procedures that would [...]
Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity. Hippocrates If you're like me, cancer treatments and surgeries left you afraid to move your body, feeling out of control and angry. I needed to heal, but had no idea how to rebuild my body and my confidence. Finally, an [...]
Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it. Ernest Holmes Many weeks a theme just organically presents itself to me. This week, it's happening again. As you already know, Sunday was the third "cancerversary" of my mastectomy and TRAM flap reconstructive surgery. Having "the emotional memory of an elephant," I [...]
Yesterday was April 15th, the third year anniversary of my mastectomy. I know every moment I'm still here is a celebration of life, but I found myself focused on the emotions of the day. I guess I can't help it. My oncology therapist told me I have the emotional memory of an elephant, in that I [...]
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. Albert Schweitzer Gratitude is the mother of WhereWeGoNow. As I healed from my diagnosis, mastectomy and reconstructive surgeries, it was gratitude [...]
It’s that time of year for milestone celebrations. Last night was my son’s eighth grade commencement ceremony and Saturday we feted my niece and her new fiancé at their engagement party. I’ve known both my son and niece since they were infants. How did this happen, this passage of time which leads one of them [...]
My massage therapist mentioned at one point how “beautiful” my scars were. As a supportive oncology and breast surgery massage specialist, she knows what she is talking about. Still, although I understood intellectually what she meant, emotionally I had a hard time agreeing with her. I’ve been told this before. Shortly after my surgery, I [...]
Where We Go Now 