I have been so incredibly busy these days… trying to get the weddings edited that we have on our plate… and also… I have been hired as Director of Weddings & Events for Chef’s Catering in Matthews. I’m so excited for this new career move! I have been shopping and getting our theme together! We’ll have a TiffanyBlue/White Theme… Tiffany Boxes, etc… I will be starting officially on Tuesday the 17th! I’ve been doing a lot off the clock… because they are investing a lot of money into the space and I wanted them to know how much I am vested in this!! I’m so anxious to get started… It’s going to be a juggling act! Lots of work on the evenings… I still have to be very careful not to sit too long because I’m still at risk of blood clots… I’ll be seeing my Oncologist on Monday and I’ll know what my next steps are!

I do know that chemo has shrunk my ovaries to non-existence…. like literally, they cannot be seen on an ultrasound. So… that will be interesting because that means, I’m technically in menopause, I think… so maybe my course of treatment will be different. There’s a medication called Arimidex that I might be able to take. I would imagine that means that I would not need a hysterectomy then? Or maybe then they’ll go ahead and take it because if they are non-existent… maybe it won’t matter? I will know soon… Also, I’ll know how long I’ll have to be taking blood thinners… They did say on my ultrasound that I have a fibroid that is 1.2cm… which concerns me…. My feeling is how do they know it’s a fibroid… just like they knew it was a cyst? I may encourage Dr. Brouse to take that crap out, honestly…… do I even want to risk it?

I saw an Integrative Oncologist this past week…. She told me a bunch of things…. She said that the best thing I could have done to help my survival is to lose 30lbs… My body mass index should be less than 30 and mine was 22. So, that’s incredibly helpful. The 2nd thing I do is walk at least 5 times a week. She said walking for 150 minutes a week reduces your breast cancer risk by 34%. She said it’s easier for doctor’s to prescribe pills…. because most patients won’t do what I’ve done…. to help their prognosis, so give them a pill…. and they know they can count on them doing that.

I want to be around for my kids!!!!! I’m so determined to live! If it means I have to give up another thing…. I’ll do it! It’s so important to me to be here for them… and my friends and family.

She told me to add some things to my diet…. walnuts and cherries are a staple anyway, but they are estrogen fighting…. so eat up, she said! Also, I’m adding some additional supplements like Tumeric, Fish Oil and Melatonin…. Melatonin is important, she said… and I’ve had a hard time staying asleep. I fall asleep, but can’t stay asleep. That’s a chemo side effect….

I’m half way through radiation! They just changed my routine…. My radiation takes 3X as long as most other breast cancer patients, it seems…. They are so precise with it.. and they just changed my margins. They were so worried about those lymph nodes that had extracapsular cells (the cells were trying to break out of the lymph nodes) that they are basically not only radiating the area…. but the areas beyond the areas….. so they changed the routine so that they get any stray cancer cells…. When I’m done with my radiation on July 8th…. I’ll get to ring a bell….. which will mean, to the best of our knowledge that hopefully I am CANCER FREE!!!! Then hopefully at 1 year, 2 years, 5 years… 10 years….. I can proclaim the same!

My hair is coming in like crazy! I’m seriously considering keeping it this short… however, it’s definitely a shade of mousey blonde…. or pewter as my husband lovingly said…. I said, you mean it’s Grey! Um….. ok, we’ll call it pewter 😉 It’s hair…. I do not honestly care, but as soon as it’s humanly possible… I want to dye it…. It’s baby fine right now and also baby soft…. I feel like a baby bunny. My eyebrows are coming in every which way…. and my lashes too…. but not nearly as thick as they were…. I had nice lashes… so I pray they come back! I’m terrible at putting lashes on….

Having lost my ovaries… lol has been a good thing. I feel like my emotions and my state of being….. are just even. So much more even than before my cancer…. I just have an overall feeling of calm, content and honestly, happiness. It’s everything in my life…. my friends, my family, my job, my future…… Having a boss believe in me… trusting in me….

I have a hard fight ahead of me…. staying on track with my diet and exercise…. will help a lot, I pray! If nothing else… it’s what I can control!

On a fun note… I’d love to share some pieces of our theme…. for my new studio/office/tasting space….