Monthly Archives: October 2020

I don’t know where I’d rate on a scale for compassion. Sometimes, I’m so caught up in my own world and family that I don’t see other peoples’ hurt. I wish I did, and I’m working on it. As I went through my cancer battle and appreciated everyone’s kindness, I was exposed to more peopleContinue reading “Day 9: Compassion”

When you or someone you care about has a serious illness, sadness is inevitable. All the feelings that pop up settle into your chest, into your heart. You’re forced to figure out what to do with all that emotion, and it often leads to sadness. I felt sad about my breast cancer situation and aboutContinue reading “Day 8: Sadness”

If you’ve read all my posts so far, thank you! The posts, like the subject, have been pretty heavy. You might be surprised to know that not every moment of every day was sad or filled with a negative emotion. Starting early on, I experienced a lot of gratitude. You might wonder what I wasContinue reading “Day 7: Gratitude”

I woke up this morning to thoughts on how yesterday’s post didn’t do justice to the concept of fear. Fear can be debilitating. It can stop you in your tracks. It can paralyze you. It can block you from feeling other things. Untempered fear can keep you from living the wonder of life, no matterContinue reading “Day 6: Anxiety”

Many of the emotions felt during my breast cancer journey coexisted. I’m sure that fear formed part of my feeling of shock. When you hear you have a potentially deadly disease, it’s normal to feel fear. However, there was a specific incident that threw me into full fear mode. After returning from our visit toContinue reading “Day 5: Fear”

At some point in the journey of telling people I had breast cancer and meeting with the doctors about what’s next, I gave into the belief that I was sick with this impossible disease. I felt resigned to the fact that my body held cancer and that the next few months would be scary andContinue reading “Day 4: Resignation and Acceptance”

Thinking about anger threw me for a loop. I had an image of someone in a movie ranting and about cancer, how unfair it was, and how they were so mad and pounding their fists on someone else. Some people do have strong anger episodes. Surely, I experienced anger at my diagnosis, just not theContinue reading “Day 3: Anger”

You hear the news, “You have breast cancer.” You can’t accept that it’s true. Disbelief and shock go hand-in-hand. Maybe shock causes disbelief. I remember crying before the nurse even said the words. I heard her say them. I may have asked a question. Most likely my husband, Jeff, asked them, while most of myContinue reading “Day 2: Shock”

Until 2016, I went into every mammogram just knowing that it would be clear, and I could go on with my daily life as usual. In November 2015, a different story emerged that would change my life forever. I received my first indication of possible breast cancer. My first reaction to the possibility of breastContinue reading “Day 1: Disbelief”