Merry Christmas!

Judy gets me every time; hope your holiday week is filled with food, family, happiness and love!

http://youtu.be/5g4lY8Y3eoo

Uncertainty

So every year I have a stack of movies I watch in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Typical holiday-type flicks: It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, White Christmas, The Santa Clause, and The Holiday. Another that I always watch is The Family Stone, which I love because of the giant family and the complicated dynamics between each member.  In the movie Sybil, the mother to a handful of grown children, has recently found out that her breast cancer (which she's battled in the past with a bilateral mastectomy) has returned.

I've watched this movie every year since its debut almost a decade ago, and of course, this year it hits home. I cried at all the parts I cried at before my diagnosis, but this year as I watched, a red flag was raised. What if my cancer comes back too, and what if we don't catch it in time to have the prognosis I had this summer?  I know the chances of it returning are statistically in my favor, but there's still those single-digit percentages that the cancer will return. I've been doing a great job not thinking about that happening, but I'm certainly not immune to it.

So what do I do?  I can't obsess over it and go into every appointment with fear or over-analyze every ping of pain I feel. No one has time for that! All that I can do is be aware of major changes, see my doctors as they suggest, and live the healthiest life I can. That's all any of us can really do, right?  No one has immunity when it comes to cancer; it sees no difference in race, class, gender or birth order.  I just hope that the battle I've already gone through wins me points if there is ever a round two.

Terrific Lady Day

Tis the season for baking, shopping and being oh so busy!  Sorry for the lack of updates.  Quick rundown: last week I met with a group of ladies who had all been diagnosed at 40 or younger.  Quite the difference from the group I've been meeting with through United.  We had a great discussion and it was so nice to commiserate with ladies my age.

2013 has put my family through the ringer, so I've been thinking about how I plan to start fresh in a few weeks.  Step two: lopping off and donating my hair (step one was joining a gym, which I'm loving so far!).  You heard it here first - the mane is now a little bob :)  I went into the cut feeling ready for it, keeping in mind how lucky I was to not go through chemo, unlike a lot of other women.  I hope my hair can make a nice wig for one of those ladies!  

Total donated: 8" :)

I had a quick appointment with my plastic surgeon after my hair cut to check in on my new boobs.  All is going well on the healing front - swelling is pretty much gone (we'll check in again in 6 weeks), and the incisions are looking great. She addressed the pain I'm having in my arm and thinks it should go away eventually. I'll just keep doing my stretches and hopefully it'll be soon!

ACS Newsletter

I'll update on personal matters later tonight or tomorrow but wanted to pass this on from the American Cancer Society; all are great, inspiring reads. Also, on the awareness end of things, be sure to check out the article on knowing your breasts.

Hope everyone's having a great week!