Bump in the road - my journey with cancer and beyond

Sunday, 30 April 2017

First haircut

Well 29 weeks post chemo and I got my first real haircut. She cleaned up the back and sides so I feel like I have a more intentional pixie. It was getting pretty thick and mullet like at the back!

Growing out my hair will take quite awhile but until the top catches up I need to keep the back shorter.

Saturday, 29 April 2017

Weight gain and cancer treatment

A lot of people think cancer/cancer treatment makes you lose weight! Well I learned the hard way that wasn't the case. Many women who do breast cancer treatment gain - the chemo puts you into (usually temporary) menopause, and the steroids give you an insatiable hunger and bloating. You are either nauseous or hungry and for me I craved not so healthy foods. Add extreme fatigue and with me a picc line - I was WAY less active during chemo as well. It is so frustrating! The good thing is you lose a lot of the bloat after chemo ends, and if you eat right and exercise you can get your body back after treatment ends.

One more gift from cancer!!

https://www.ihadcancer.com/h3-blog/03-11-2016/5-reminders-for-anyone-struggling-with-weight-gain-from-cancer-treatment

Thursday, 27 April 2017

Lace up for love

I am doing the Lace up for Love 5km Run/Walk for Wellspring on May 14th! Wellspring is an awesome place that I’ve been spending a lot of time at recently, as you can see from all my posts!!

They help people like me cope with their cancer diagnosis and transition back to life after treatment is over. All programs are free for people with a cancer diagnosis, and they rely on fundraising, so I wanted to do the run to give alittle back. :)

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1168455&supId=445592507

Art therapy#4

I had my fourth art therapy session yesterday, and it followed my checkup with doctor easson.

Our first activity was a warm up one with paper cutouts. This is mine but it takes some explanation. It was supposed to be how we felt that day. The green circle is me when I am feeling well. The brown blocks are chemo, radiation and surgery. The blue waves are my mental health. The two hearts are jeff and i, and how he supported me at my appointment that morning (and all the way through). The sun has four rays for the four doctors that helped me. 😊

It's funny because it kind of looks like a nature scene too. The instructor also mentioned that the brown pieces are not touching the others, and maybe that's because it is behind me now.

We then did some painting with acrylic paint. I made two images, the first is a sunset -or maybe a sunrise? With a bridge. I was thinking about crossing the bridge to recovery.

The other is a small ship in the ocean - kind of what having cancer can feel like, trying to fight against the waves and make it through.

The instructor asked me if I thought these are my inside versus outside personas. It kind of caught me by surprise but maybe she has a point! Trying to be strong and "recovered" when I haven't quite made it back to shore yet...