This list will vary depending on treatment but in a nutshell"
You never get an eyelash in your eye.
Your "bad hair days" disappear.
Other go out and pay to consume items that make them nauseated and dizzy, you got the health care system covering your tab!
You get to try out that "Brazilian" without the ouch. Oo-la-la!
The money you save on razors, shampoo, and conditioner is astounding.
Hearing people complain about sunburns brings a giggle to your breath every time.
Posting "Chemo Patient Inside" is a great deterrent for solicitors.
You now have guilt to help you get that last piece of cheesecake - "Did I tell you about that last chemo treatment I had? Are you going to eat that?"
Saying "I have/had cancer" shuts up pretty much everyone.
You find out there IS a Cancer Card... And you learn how to pull it!
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More to come, off to bed for now! Nites!
Monday, 23 April 2012
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Non-patented drug may be the cure for most cancers
This video is surfacing on a lot of people's walls/timelines on Facebook. Give it a watch and see what you think. CLICK HERE
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Pink Spring for Breast Cancer Action NS
A quick shout out to BCANS, Breast Cancer Action Nova Scotia, as they are hosting Pink Spring on April 28th from 6 till 9pm. This is a fundraiser to help BCANS continue to help women as they are diagnosed with breast cancer, help educate girls and young women on how to examine themselves as well as know the signs of cancer, and helps fund the Pink Panthers support group. Pink Spring is a dinner and auction event, they will have a wide variety of items in three different auctions: flower pot (deposit tickets in pots of items you want to win), silent auction, and live auction. Items are being placed on their website (link below) as they are processed. There is also the Grand Prize: the draw for two round trip tickets anywhere Westjet flies, tickets are only $20 each.
Tickets for the gala are only $75/pp and are available through BCANS. Either visit their website by clicking HERE or call (902) 465-2685, Visa and MC accepted, to purchase event tickets or tickets for the Westjet draw.
Tickets for the gala are only $75/pp and are available through BCANS. Either visit their website by clicking HERE or call (902) 465-2685, Visa and MC accepted, to purchase event tickets or tickets for the Westjet draw.
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Self
How does one maintain your "self" when you feel so torn?
I know this feeling I'm having is not helped by the feeling of "dragging" myself along my life since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. As soon as someone is told they have cancer, your life, your plans, your dreams go on hold, health and treatment take priority. But being slung into a world of chemo, surgeries, radiation, and whatever else they think is required to destroy the cancer can cause you to be sucked into a vortex that is not easy to crawl out of.
Life gives you more obstacles as it goes. We learn to duck and weave, we jump hurtles, we bounce back from blows, and continue on our journey. For some, cancer becomes a yoke, that even if it is lifted, you find yourself far behind your original path, or in completely unfamiliar territory.
My lament? I have a self that is not realized and it's starting to cloud me. I am slowly gaining my confidence and abilities to be the mother/wife that I was pre-cancer. I need to realize that some friends are never going to be more than "someone I once knew" (that's one of the hardest for me). There is a self that I know took to the sidelines long ago because I needed more time. I needed more focus on things like income, housework, and life's winding paths. It is something I have been trying to rekindle, trying to find a way to weave it back into its past potential. It is my artist self. I feel more like "Julie" when I'm an artist. I don't feel like I am in a void, I feel purpose, I feel whole.
I get a moment every once and a while to let it out, but it's not like it once was. It's not the intensity it used to be. I need to find that balance that allows me to be all parts of me: mother, wife, cancer dominater, and the Julie formerly known as artist. My only hope and wish is that once some things are behind me, the reconstruction, some personal things within my life are resolved, I will find answers as to how to find this new balance. Perhaps my focus will be easier to master once I feel my cancer chapter is more finalized. Here's hoping...
I know this feeling I'm having is not helped by the feeling of "dragging" myself along my life since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. As soon as someone is told they have cancer, your life, your plans, your dreams go on hold, health and treatment take priority. But being slung into a world of chemo, surgeries, radiation, and whatever else they think is required to destroy the cancer can cause you to be sucked into a vortex that is not easy to crawl out of.
Life gives you more obstacles as it goes. We learn to duck and weave, we jump hurtles, we bounce back from blows, and continue on our journey. For some, cancer becomes a yoke, that even if it is lifted, you find yourself far behind your original path, or in completely unfamiliar territory.
My lament? I have a self that is not realized and it's starting to cloud me. I am slowly gaining my confidence and abilities to be the mother/wife that I was pre-cancer. I need to realize that some friends are never going to be more than "someone I once knew" (that's one of the hardest for me). There is a self that I know took to the sidelines long ago because I needed more time. I needed more focus on things like income, housework, and life's winding paths. It is something I have been trying to rekindle, trying to find a way to weave it back into its past potential. It is my artist self. I feel more like "Julie" when I'm an artist. I don't feel like I am in a void, I feel purpose, I feel whole.
I get a moment every once and a while to let it out, but it's not like it once was. It's not the intensity it used to be. I need to find that balance that allows me to be all parts of me: mother, wife, cancer dominater, and the Julie formerly known as artist. My only hope and wish is that once some things are behind me, the reconstruction, some personal things within my life are resolved, I will find answers as to how to find this new balance. Perhaps my focus will be easier to master once I feel my cancer chapter is more finalized. Here's hoping...
Friday, 6 April 2012
"I thought it was over?"
Something many people who have never had cancer seem to not realize is that even after treatments are done, the person that had cancer is never going to be the same. Never. We have faced death in the eye, a good amount of us made him blink first, and some of us had to learn to live with his hand on our shoulder. No matter which category the person falls in, they can never go back to their "pre-cancer" life. Even if the scars fade, even if the hair grows back, even if our plastic surgeons do immaculate work at recreating our bodies, we will forever be scarred in our hearts and minds.
I'm not saying that the person that had cancer is a trainwreck. I'm saying, don't expect your friend, family member, or spouse to dust themselves off and say, "Well, back to what I was doing before diagnosis." After coming to terms with the fact that you had something so deadly in your body, after resolving to get through all the treatments that poisoned the cancer as well as yourself, after getting the okay to resume normal activities, you will have a person that has been through a traumatic experience. Fear of reoccurance will forever be in the back corner of their mind. Every pain and ache that so many can brush off will be a jolt of terror.
Your life is changed, whether you like it or not, after having a cancer diagnosis. Some can use this as the opportunity to better themselves as a person, they can become more confident in what they need to do. Others can feel washed out with the tide, bobbing in the sea and trying to figure out if they should swim for the closest shore or the nearest boat. But is that shore a mirage? Is that boat sinking? Some people find their circle of friends shrinks in some ways and grows in others. Those that say they would stand by your side no matter what are called on their oath. Unfortunately, sometimes the ones you were depending on to help you are the first to pull the rug out from under you. Some friends that you didn't think would want to be near you are the ones that step up and help you to be at ease with your journey. Some people will just fade away...
Where am I going with this blog post? Don't be surprised if you are greeted with blank stares if you say to a person, "So what are you going to do now that you're back to normal?" or "Why do you need that, your cancer is gone?" (When referring to support or other treatments like plastic surgery once the cancer seems to be fully removed/eradicated). Just because we made it through the treatment phase or have the cancer "under control" it doesn't mean we're jumping back into our old routines, as much as we may wish we could. That's one of the dark sides of surviving through cancer, you are never going to have your life the way it was before. For some, however, it can turn out to be the best wake up call they ever received.
I'm not saying that the person that had cancer is a trainwreck. I'm saying, don't expect your friend, family member, or spouse to dust themselves off and say, "Well, back to what I was doing before diagnosis." After coming to terms with the fact that you had something so deadly in your body, after resolving to get through all the treatments that poisoned the cancer as well as yourself, after getting the okay to resume normal activities, you will have a person that has been through a traumatic experience. Fear of reoccurance will forever be in the back corner of their mind. Every pain and ache that so many can brush off will be a jolt of terror.
Your life is changed, whether you like it or not, after having a cancer diagnosis. Some can use this as the opportunity to better themselves as a person, they can become more confident in what they need to do. Others can feel washed out with the tide, bobbing in the sea and trying to figure out if they should swim for the closest shore or the nearest boat. But is that shore a mirage? Is that boat sinking? Some people find their circle of friends shrinks in some ways and grows in others. Those that say they would stand by your side no matter what are called on their oath. Unfortunately, sometimes the ones you were depending on to help you are the first to pull the rug out from under you. Some friends that you didn't think would want to be near you are the ones that step up and help you to be at ease with your journey. Some people will just fade away...
Where am I going with this blog post? Don't be surprised if you are greeted with blank stares if you say to a person, "So what are you going to do now that you're back to normal?" or "Why do you need that, your cancer is gone?" (When referring to support or other treatments like plastic surgery once the cancer seems to be fully removed/eradicated). Just because we made it through the treatment phase or have the cancer "under control" it doesn't mean we're jumping back into our old routines, as much as we may wish we could. That's one of the dark sides of surviving through cancer, you are never going to have your life the way it was before. For some, however, it can turn out to be the best wake up call they ever received.
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Cancer Barbie is in production
A reliable source gave me this, it was on their TV the other night. If the people demand something long enough and are persistent the higher ups do listen... eventually lol.
I'm curious to see the demo of her. I was never one to play with Barbies but having them make an actual Cancer Barbie doll with wigs and scarves for her head I think is a good step in the right direction. I wonder if they'll make her look normal or if she will be drained from her chemo >_>
I'm curious to see the demo of her. I was never one to play with Barbies but having them make an actual Cancer Barbie doll with wigs and scarves for her head I think is a good step in the right direction. I wonder if they'll make her look normal or if she will be drained from her chemo >_>
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