On May 28, 2013 I sat on a chair next to the bathrooms at work, my cell phone at my ear, listening to a breast surgeon tell me I had cancer. I stared a hole through the beauty magazine sitting on the table next to me, trying not to physically flinch at the words ‘mastectomy’, and ‘chemotherapy’. He kept using the term ‘breast cancer’ over and over. “Stop it,” I wanted to scream at him. “Stop using those words, they’re not the right words, there’s no way they’re the right words.”
Four months later I was almost unrecognizable – my breasts were gone, my hair was gone, my skin was pale and sallow because the chemo caused a sun sensitivity – I hadn’t really been outside much in weeks. And when I went online to find ways of getting through it, the practical advice and tricks for getting through the everyday stuff were spread out or hard to find. I didn’t need advice about how to choose my treatment or doctor anymore, I needed advice about how to get through each day.
That’s how You’ve Got This was born. I wanted to give back; I wanted to offer support to those going through similar horrific experiences.
Now I’m in the aftermath, the New Normal, and navigating it isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. There are the high’s – I’m cancer free, raising my kids, surrounded by an incredible community of people, and writing full time. Then there are the low’s – I’ve got some chemo weight that is putting up a gigantic fight, my hair is short and thin and looks like a mullet as it grows out, and I have a weird form of PTSD when I get hit with references to cancer.
All through treatment I told myself, there’s a big picture here. Big things to learn, big things the Universe wants you to do. Now that I’m done with treatment I’m shouldered with that responsibility. What’re you gonna do with this gift, kid?
This. This is what I’m going to do. I’m going to do what I do best – over-share and offer advice. Enjoy the ride…
Many blessings.