My journey started with a diagnosis on 3/16/18 of breast cancer in my left breast. ER and PR positive and HER2 negative.

Double mastectomy and DIEP reconstruction on 4/20. A sentinel lymph node was removed on the left side. It had cancer in it.

5/13 I have ten lymph nodes removed from my left arm pit. Two of those had specks of cancer and one the cancer had grown to the outside of the node.

6/13 I started chemo. 4 treatments 3 weeks apart. Finished chemo 8/15.
 

9/20 I started my 30 radiation treatments and finished 11/2.

11/24 took my first tamoxifen (hormone blocker) pill that I will take for 5 years.

Thru all of this I can tell you that there truly is some yucky days and pain but it is very doable. You CAN do this. I have already said these words to you.

So get up today and choose to smile because you have the power to do so. You may have cancer but cancer does not have you if you stand up and be powerful against it.

One thing I found interesting in my journey at the beginning especially was that yesterday, last week or last month we didn’t know we had cancer and we were over comers for our families and friends. Our tribe, and now knowing we have cancer we want to melt into fear.

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It. Is. Hard.

But we are the same now we just have cancer. That changes us forever but we truly have the opportunity to decide how we look at that and proceed. Just don’t give your power and smile away to the fear. Don’t worry alone. You are not alone. We are now all connected by the amazing pink thread.