I can’t believe that we are a week into November already! I was planning on sharing this in October, since it is Breast Cancer Awareness month. As you can tell, time got away from me, so here we are, October was just a week ago and I am finally sharing.
Sometimes I can not believe that it’s been 5 years since I was diagnosed and started this new chapter of my life. First and foremost I want to share with you that I am well and I continue to be cancer free. There is not a day that I am not grateful. I am grateful to God for my health and the hope that sustains me. I am grateful for my family, for their love and support, their care for me, their help, and their humor. I am grateful for the amazing team of professionals that I have with me on this journey, specifically my Physical Therapist and treasured friend that is far more familiar with my body than anyone should be and works tirelessly to keep me in working condition. Her gentleness, tenderness, humor, knowledge and willingness to tread into new territory and learn alongside me have been imperative to me getting to where I am, to being both physically
And mentally healthy, thank you Laura. My primary care physician and friend has been invaluable to me over these past few years, always encouraging me down healthy avenues for whole body health and wellness, always available for questions and concerns, to communicate with any of my specialists, to be my advocate, to see me as a unique individual, thank you Elisa.
I am endlessly grateful to you, my champions. You have kept me in your thoughts and prayers, you check in on me, many have brought me meals and encouraged me through this chapter and 5 years later I am so grateful for your continued prayers, kindness and encouragement.
So, what does it look like 5 years in? Well I still see my physical therapist on a very regular basis. My implants don’t like to stay situated correctly in the space created for them. You can’t tell from looking at me, however I can tell and I can definitely feel it. I do not have any immediate plans to switch these implants out. My plastic surgeon feels that I have been through enough surgeries for a while and until there is a different style implant it really wouldn’t be beneficial to me. So for now, we keep doing what we’ve been doing, as long as it continues to work pretty well
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I continue to see all of my specialist at OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University) where I am monitored closely for any reoccurrence of breast cancer, or other cancers that are associated with my BRCA gene mutation: pancreatic cancer, melanoma of the skin, melanoma of the eye, and stomach cancer. I am at a higher risk for pancreatic cancer due to a family history of pancreatic cancer so I am in 3 different studies that monitor me through bloodwork and an athletic band called the Whoop band which tracks my heart rate, sleep and workout intensity and recovery. I also have yearly endoscopy procedure to check my pancreas and stomach. I see a dermatologist that specializes in skin cancers for a full body check once a year, as well as seeing an eye cancer specialist that checks my eyes once a year. And this week I went up to OHSU for my annual breast MRI and to meet with my breast specialist.
This is always a little nerve wracking, it takes me right back to the unknown of 5 years ago. But a lot has changed since then, and it’s not all unknown anymore. Now I focus on taking care of my whole health from mindset to cellular health. Our own minds and thoughts can be our greatest contiributor or inhibitor to our success, so I make my mindset a daily priority. I am cautious about what I say to myself, about myself. I am learning to be compassionate with myself, to know when I need to slow down or rest and when I need to propel myself forward. I also prioritize my health from the inside out, starting at the cellular level, I take supplements that have been studied and tested, proven to protect at a cellular level, and reduce the oxidative stress in my body, helping to prevent cancer from a resurgence and spreading in my body. I take cbda daily, which has been studied and continues to be the center of several studies that have proven that it is effective in 5 Therapuetic areas: anti-cancer, anti – viral, inflammation support, mood disorders and nausea.
Right now, I am focused on living my life, reaching for goals and dreams. There are even days when I don’t think about cancer at all. Well maybe it’s not so much that I don’t think about it, because I always know it, but that it is just a fact that really doesn’t affect my day to day living nearly as much as it did. And that is a good thing. I feel so grateful to be where I am in my health journey, and to have you by my side as championing me along the way.
