Follow this blog
  A Tale of 2 Boobies
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Breast Cancer
  • Skin Cancer
  • My Travels

Words Matter - Say them Hear them Feel them

1/15/2016

1 Comment

 
PictureJan 2016
Words really do matter. And some of the best words came for me at a most unexpected time.
 
Last week, I attended a wake for someone I barely knew. He had been a bartender at a lounge that my better half and I frequent often. Ok, not as often as we used to, or as often as we would like to, but often enough.  Needless to say, I went to pay my respects and though I didn’t know him well, I knew him enough to know that when tragedy strikes our community, we stand together. Even if we are standing in a viewing line at the funeral parlor.
 
Though the atmosphere was somber and it was quite heartbreaking to see so many faces grieving and in pain, I am thankful that I was able to offer a few hugs to some friends I hadn’t seen in a while. One of those hugs went to my friend Duke.
 
With a tear in his eye, we quickly hugged, then he looked at me, rolled his eyes around my hair, turned to my girlfriend and said “she’s back.”
 
You may shake your head and think “ok, that means a whole lot of nothing.” But these two simple words gave me the greatest gift. What he said was something I’ve needed to hear for over 2 years but not sure those words would ever come.
 
It has been drilled into my head that I need to learn to accept the “new me” or the “new normal” as stated in so many cancer blogs. I know I’ve said this many times in the past, that I wasn’t particularly happy being the old me but I never stopped wanting her back.  I grieved the death of the old me. I spent months in therapy trying to grasp how to be this “new me.” A few months ago I wasn’t even capable of going on a job interview because I had such little self esteem that I couldn’t get myself to feel worthy of any position. All of this because I didn’t feel like me. The me that I had been for 40 years. I felt like a shell of me.
 
Recently, I have felt like me. The real me. The old me. And thanks to Duke, I finally have confirmation that I’m not dreaming. I really am BACK!
 
So, this just proves that you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to! You can fight your way into remission and when they tell you that nothing will ever be as it was – you can call BULLSHIT! 

1 Comment
BRYCE HALPERN
1/21/2016 05:06:13 pm

Please see the Dr. Ward Bond website, and look for the page about iodine and breast cancer. This research and the resulting lifestyle suggestions and use of iodine relies heavily on the favorable breast cancer rates in Japan, and the theory explains why this is so.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Been There Survived That

    CANCER RESOURCES

    CANCER CALENDAR

    RSS Feed

    POSTS IN ORDER

    All
    001 Feeling A Lump
    002 Biopsy
    003 - Get Organized
    004 Google Before Surgery
    005 Fear Before Surgery
    006 Fundraisers
    007 Photos For You
    008 Hospital Packing List
    009 Mastectomy Surgery
    010 Pain Management
    011 Drains
    012 After Surgery
    013 Girl With Cancer
    014 Chemo Port Surgery
    015 Breast Cancer Benefit
    016 AC Chemo
    017 Hair Loss
    018 3rd Chemo
    019-wig-or-not
    020-chemo-depression
    021-chemo-walker
    022-taxol-anxiety
    023-silent-warrior
    024-health-insurance
    025 Chemo Long Process
    026 Chemo Products
    027 Pamper Yourself
    028 40 Going On 90
    029 Walk With Me
    030 Last Chemo
    031 Expanders Went Flat
    032 Hudson River
    033 My Tractor
    034 Hair Grows
    035 Exchange Surgery
    036 Port Removal
    037 Heaven Can Wait
    038 CureDiva
    039 Radiation Mapping
    040 First Radiation
    041 Radiation #8
    042 Radiation Bell
    043 Radiation Fatigue
    044 New Normal
    045 Radiation #27
    046 Radiation Ends
    047 Last Radiation
    048 Radiation Burns
    049 Final Rad Burn
    050-be-real
    051-ptsd
    052 Weight Gain
    053 MRI Brain
    054 Dear Cancer
    055 CNY Walk
    056 Golf Benefit
    057 Tamoxifen
    058 All About Cancer
    059 Awareness Month
    060 WhatGivesMeStrength
    061 Tamoxifen & Hair
    062 Hair Obsessed
    063 - Cording
    064 Hair Growth
    065 Cancerversary
    066 Connecting With Cancer
    067 Reflecting
    068 Scanxiety
    069 Survivors Guilt
    070 Cancer Photos
    071 Tamoxifen Again
    072 Basket Deliveries
    074 Group Therapy
    075 Capsular Contracture
    076 Reconstruction Repair
    077 Implant Surgery Photos
    078 Magazine Cover
    2014 CNY Events
    2015 Events
    2016 CALENDARS
    2016 Events
    5 Years Later
    BadassBBQ
    Before After Photos
    BOOK OneYearWithCancer
    BOOK - OneYearWithCancer
    CANCER FACTS
    CANCER SONGS
    Chemo Jokes
    CNY Cancer Book
    CNY Resources
    Early Detection
    General Blogs
    Heart Card Campaign
    Inspiration
    Komen 3Day
    New Normal
    Radiation
    Radio Interview 2015
    Reduce Stress
    Statistics
    Tamoxifen

I prefer not to be defined by cancer, but my life has certainly changed because of it.
Today, the simplicity of life and small moments of joy is what drives me.
Thanks for following my journey!