We made it!!!!!

Chris and I made it on our vacation! Yup, we made it down to California. I must say this was the first vacation where I had decided to "wing it," and just kind of see where we would end up. Now would I recommend this... Umm... depends. I like to know where I'm going to sleep at night, so to be driving at night hoping to find a clean place to stay was a smidge bit nerve-wracking. We initially stayed in Seattle and then the second day we managed to make it to Crescent City, which is the northern tip of California. If you have never heard of it it's probably because it's not a place I would wish to go back to. That was the one spot where I was excited to wake up and leave, quickly.

As well, I have finally figured out how to use the GPS in my car!! Now this came after I messed up with it a little. The first day when we made it to Seattle we wanted to find a Holiday Inn as we have found them to be clean which is essentially the most important thing to look for on a road trip. So I decided to set the GPS and felt quite proud of myself for doing this, as I found a Holiday Inn. To get there we realized we had to turn around and start driving backwards. Ok, no biggie it's probably a few exits back north. As we drove for 10-15minutes I saw in the bottom corner of my GPS that the estimated time of arrival was over 9hrs away. Hmmm... now the first thing I thought was should I mention this to Chris? Sadly, my lack of “savviness” with the GPS got us in a slightly pickley situation. Over a year ago I drove to Radium Hot Springs and had set my GPS, however what I didn't realize was that once you reach your destination you need to delete that trip. Therefore, what this meant was that I had set my GPS to get to Radium from Seattle. Let's just say Chris was not totally impressed with my navigation skills. On a positive note, I did figure out how to finally use my GPS after two years, yaaay to that victory.

Day three we decided to stay in San Francisco for the night quite simply because we love San Francisco! We had a lovely seafood dinner at Scoma’s which I would recommend to anyone visiting this city as they had deliciously fresh seafood. The next day when we left we knew what highway we had to get to, but despite my new “savviness” with the GPS we couldn't figure out where to turn off which led us to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge four times before we finally saw the turn off. We drove along the coast through Santa Cruz and Monterey until we hit Carmel. Carmel is a small city that would be easy to miss, but by far one of my favourite places we visited! This place was simply picturesque with the most adorable little boutiques, and the most unique and gorgeous houses. Let's just say I could happily live there. We stayed in Carmel overnight before deciding to leave the next day. If you have never been to Carmel, I recommend going!!!

As we drove along the coast the stretch that was the most beautiful was between Carmel and Big Sur. We pulled over in a bunch of spots for pictures because the backdrop was surreal! Some pictures didn't even seem real because it was so perfect.

After the gorgeous scenery we decided we wanted to finally make it to Anaheim as we wanted to go to Disneyland despite Chris' temporary "handicapness." Therefore, we drove and drove. We both had a role: Chris would drive like a mad man and I would keep my eyes out for any troopers. If we got pulled over I would pretend like I'm sick and that's why we were in a rush. Oh yes, we had planned this out! Initially we thought about stopping In Santa Barbara for the night, but we ended up getting our minds set on Anaheim and Disneyland. Well, we made it to Anaheim at 10pm and we felt proud of ourselves for driving so much that we made it to a destination where we could finally unpack for a few days. Of course things didn't quite end up as planned. When we found a hotel and went to check in they told us they had nillo availability. Alright, so off we went to hotel number two, nope no availability. Ok, number three would be our lucky number! Nope, nothing! We asked why it was so hard to find a hotel and they told us there was a convention in town, some YouTube convention that had sold out most the hotels. Now Anaheim is a decent sized city so we thought let's just look up hotels on our iPad and things will be peachy. We sat there for half an hour at night looking and sure enough every hotel in Anaheim was sold out!!! This is where the pre planning would have been nice but after a while we decided to move on from Anaheim and accept the fact that Disneyland was not meant to be right now. Chris could barely walk and his knee was super swollen so it wasn't like we could have really enjoyed it anyways, right??? Therefore, I decided to pre plan and book a hotel for Palm Springs that night even though we would get there after midnight. I found a nice hotel that looked relatively luxurious and off we went. No "happiest place on earth" for us, desert instead.

We made it to Palm Springs around 1am and couldn't be happier. As we checked in they told us of the pool party for the weekend. Firstly, I don't care for crazy, drunken pool parties so I was a bit disappointed to hear this but thought whatever. I love the heat more than anything, but the one thing I found on this trip that bothered me was the fact that I had serious issues sleeping. Now one of my fabulous "alternative," leafy therapies I use, can't be taken across the border which is a story in and of itself because I could ramble for hours regarding how much this infuriates me, but whatever. Therefore, after days of pure crappy sleep with horrendous hot flashes I was left quite peeved off when I realized that during the weekend this resort was filled with young, wild, party people. Let's just say my type of "people" are the elderly. They're quiet, sweet, and go to bed at a decent hour like myself. Well, that night I would be awakened to girls screaming in the hallway, doors slamming constantly, and the smell of smoke in a non-smoking building. By the time it was morning and time to check out I was furious and utterly exhausted! We ultimately got a discount because I was not a pleasant person and I let them know about it!

After we left Palm Springs our destination was Las Vegas, more specifically Lake Las Vegas in Henderson which has always been my go to place. I'm familiar with this city as I am with Calgary and I consider it my second home. Once we got there it just felt right. We had an amazing condo with a kitchen and I was excited to cook my own food, so we stocked up at whole foods. Best part was that my sister wife, Lexer, happened to be in Vegas with her mom at the same time, and so we met up for dinner and an evening that was filled with non stop laughter! I'm pretty sure people thought we were intoxicated, which we were not!! We spent four days in Lake Las Vegas with a heat warning the last two days as it got up to 47degrees. I loved every minute of it! However, the last couple days I also got sick. Some sinus head thing, and my lack of sleep just got worse and I woke up with a fever and feeling like total crapola. Now this upset me because I was on vacation and I refused to let this ruin my trip. I steamed my head a couple times and then told Chris I'm going to the pool. Chris looked at me and told me that the lady at the front desk told him to avoid going outside due to the excessive heat. I looked at him and said you would need to tie me down if you think I'm going to stay inside. Going outside probably didn't help with the fever, however I had made my mind up to enjoy myself, which I did. It wasn't until the last day that I finally bought NyQuil and I slept!!!! It was the best thing in the world, and I had wished I would have taken it every day of my trip.

Overall, we had an amazing couple of weeks. I learnt how to finally use my GPS, realized that I like to pre plan, and wished that certain laws would be different so that my alternative therapy "meds" could have come along this trip and I could have slept. As much as I enjoyed myself I must say it’s nice to be back home. It was lovely to have a couple weeks where I could just not think about my reality, so for that I am grateful. All in all, things are going well and I hope this momentum continues!!

Chris and I in San Francisco. We tried our best to get a bit of the bacground in the pic so it actually looked like we were on vacation!!

 

 

How perfect is this!!!! California coast

California coast

 

 

California coast

 

 

Chris and I along the coast somewhere

 

 

California coast and me

 

 

California coast and me

 

 

There were squirrels everywhere here, and they were super friendly! Of course there's nillo squirrels in the pic and make me seem like a liar, however I swear they were there. Must be camera shy.

 

 

Somewhere in the desert, just north of Palm Springs

 

 

Lex and I in Vegas!!

 

 

So that's Chris, me(top of my head), Lex, and her mom. Honestly the flash on Lex' camera threw me off everytime, and hence this was the result.

 

 

Ok, this requires some explanation. Lex' mom had this scooter and kindly let me try it. Prior to this, she tried to show me how to go backwards, but she pressed it to go forward and ran into some chairs almost knocking a man off his chair as he played the slot machine, bahahaha. I must say it takes a bit of skill to figure this out as it really has some good speed to it.

Always Expect The Unexpected

So all has been relatively well, but as we all know when it starts to rain it pours. I switched over from my oral bisphosphonate to an intravenous one that I will now receive every four weeks. Dr. Webster told me about the potential for “flu-like” symptoms. I kind of just shrugged at that and really thought this would be easy peasy. Well, the infusion itself was quick and simple. Those “flu-like” symptoms did happen later that day, however I would describe it using slightly different words: F*ck*n AWFUL!! It was more like an excruciating bone pain where you are left questioning yourself over and over if you actually may have broken something. I ambulated like a 95year old grandmother, pretty pathetic for a 28year old. Not to mention the fever that accompanied the pain for 3days; it totalled to a waste of 3 days!!!!!!!!!! Now to most people that may not seem like a long time, however when you require this medication every month forever, then it becomes 3days too much! I missed out on a coffee date and dinner plans, so that left me a bit peeved off, plus I was supposed to walk 3km that weekend to support my wonderful friend. As I sat on the couch I wondered how I could walk that far (which typically wouldn’t be far at all) when it took me a couple minutes just to get up off the couch all the while cursing from the pain. I thought there’s no way I can possibly walk like this especially since this was a family affair with kids and there was no way on earth I was going to curse away and get kicked out of a charity walk! So I simply had to wait and see when these lovely side effects would disappear.

I can say by Saturday morning I felt good. So away I went and had an absolutely perfect day, supporting my dear friend and her little man. After we were done I realized my hubby had called and texted me a few times. Not thinking much of it I called him only for him to tell me he was in urgent care!! Wait, where?????? Yuppers, he had injured his knee at work and when he tried to get up that morning, lets just say he moved as quick as I did just a couple days earlier. So I rushed to urgent care and sat with him. Apparently his years of playing football had totally destroyed his knee and there wasn’t much they could do. You know it’s not great when there’s a group of healthcare workers looking at an x-ray and discussing how awful it looks. Well that’s wonderful because we totally had nothing else on our plate! After spending over 4hrs in urgent care, Chris hobbled out with a zimmer and crutches.

The best part is that we have planned a road trip to California for this weekend and now we are kind of in limbo. Between appointments, treatments, scans, and Chris’ work schedule we had found our window of opportunity to get away and then of course life needs to get in the way, grrrr. So I also decided to get an oil change and service my car since we are planning on driving. When I went to pick my car up the gentleman tells me what they did and then goes on to tell me, “Your breaks are really close to needing to be repaired.” I responded by telling him, “Well I’m driving to California so will I make it there and back?” He looks at me and tells me, “Well… that may be close.” My response, “Ok, that doesn’t sound super promising, like I’m not going to plunge to my death down a mountain cause my breaks don’t work am I?” He looks at me and says, “Oh… probably not.” hmm.. Probably not doesn’t work for me, I need to hear definitely not so I look at him and say, “what’s your name so that in case me and my husband plunge to our deaths my family can place blame on somebody!” Not even kidding, his response was a pause with a nervous laugh, all whilst not telling me his name. That’s promising for sure I thought. So that was that and I thought could these all be signs to not take a darn vacation???

Whatever happens we will make the most of it, and I am still optimistic we will be able to go, zimmer, crutches, and all. Heck, I’ll stick him in a wheelchair and get a handicap sign and think of the phenomenal parking we will get everywhere we go! Yes, we will make this work one way or other because, after all, we are quite obviously a dream team of a couple in regards to our health! California here we come, slowly but surely we‘ll get there (Just please let us make it to the border, at least)!!!

 

I’m smiling because I am beyond clueless as to how utterly crappy I’ll feel in about 8hrs. My bones better be as flippin strong as wonder woman because I felt the pain!!! I must say thank you to Megan for stocking up the adult world with popsicles, made my dayJ As well, your mom is lovely and reminds me a lot of you! Why does the adult world not have popsicles??

Who wouldn't want to eat this precious little peanut up???

 

 

Another perfect little babe!!!

 

 

Lennox is incredible:)

 

 

Our amazing team!!

 

Me and Chris in urgent care. Maybe I shouldn't be smiling??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charities

In the last four months I have had 2CTs, 2MRIs, 2ECHOs, and a bone scan. I was given the greatest gift from my amazing friends, a wonderful trip with my mom, and many fabulous outings with some wonderful friends and their perfect little babes. It amazes me when you focus on each day how time doesn’t simply fly by as when you work. You get to enjoy each day for what it’s worth, and I find myself not looking forward to what I’m doing in a week or in a month, but simply focusing on today. I can say I have had the highest highs and the lowest lows.

When I first got diagnosed just over two years ago, I became obsessed with googling everything, something I do not recommend! I remember one site where you could put in your tumour biology, age, receptor status etc… and it would tell you your overall survival. So I did it. Well it not only gave you a percentage, but you could get those stats in a bar graph or a pie chart. Seriously telling me the number wasn’t enough, but lets draw a pie chart so that you could see your minimal chance of living ten years. Since then I have realized that these are simply averages and every person is so different that these numbers just go on to scare the crapola out of you. If I could tell anyone with cancer something it would be to not waste your time googling stats because they may very well not pertain to you.

So I had been pondering how much money is raised for anything and everything breast cancer related. It all seems so wonderful, however when you read some of the statistics it becomes a bit disturbing. What bothers me the most is the distribution of money. The fact is that less than two percent of funds raised for breast cancer goes towards metastatic breast cancer. Wait a minute, how does this make any sense whatsoever??? People don’t die from localized cancer they die as a direct result from metastasis, so why are we not investing more money into this?? We all love the feel good story of women who beat their early stage disease, but I must say our focus on what needs to be done is so distorted. Don’t get me wrong many services that are provided in regards to patient and family support services are great, however I have moved past the need for this for MYSELF. I want better treatment options, services that enhance my quality of life by reducing pain, clinical trials, and essentially a CURE. Time is not on my side, so when I look at charities I want money invested towards it’s science and research. We have sugar coated this disease as if it’s something “fun” with all the pink that when you read the fine print on products that are meant to support breast cancer it says five cents goes towards the “cure.” Really?? What I hate is that it has become some form of a popularity contest. You have the people who are survivors, and what about those of us who are surviving?? Even when you look at Cancer Centers in the United States and they publish their survival rates. Some sound astoundingly promising and then you research into it and realize that some of these centers will only accept patients with early stage disease in which these people already have a promising outlook, regardless of where they seek treatment. Some won’t accept patients with late stage disease as this can skew their survival stats, and ultimately affect the amount of revenue they generate. How f*ck*d up is this????? Until someone is personally affected by this disease it seems that the only focus is geared towards personal profit.

The current figures (depending on where you look) show that 50% of men and 33% of females will get cancer in their lifetime. That’s fairly significant and just because you personally may not have been affected yet, sadly the odds are someone you love will. When I donate money to a cause I am not donating to allow a single individual to live a lavish lifestyle because they are the CEO of a charity. I understand that it costs a certain amount of money to run a charitable organization, however if you are truly passionate about a cause you shouldn’t be thinking about your own personal gain in regards to revenue. So next time you donate to a cause look at the bigger picture and know where your money goes, and what it is going to fund. Think about the statistics and what it is that you really want when you get cancer. It’s pretty simple and can be summed up with one word: LIFE.

The view from our balcony at Lake Las Vegas!! Sunshine and happiness go hand in hand!!

 

Me and my mom amongst the Palm trees

 

Me and my mom.

 

Morning view from our deck, paradise!

 

So my princess noodle wanted to do Lego so we went and bought some lego. I was not into Lego as a child, however my goodness I am now hooked!! If you have not done Lego since childhood, buy some becaue it is quite fun, especially since they now have Lego for girls. Ok, laugh out loud if need be but I swear you'll enjoy it if you try it!!!!!

 

Fun at the park on a lovely day:)

 

Lex and little Lennox: So this sweet little soul brings so much happiness. Honestly, I could cuddle him all day, pure perfection:) Check out his story and spread the love: daysfilledwithsunshine.blogspot.com

 

Waiting for an MRI with my super stylish attire. Why cant results ever be straight forward??? Lets just say I can relate to Walter White from Breaking Bad, hahaha!! Don't worry I am not cooking meth, but can totally relate to the craziness of life!!

 

 

I had to add this picture just because. Zoom in because it is a little duck family!!! May just be the cutest thing ever and made me smile:) Best part is, just one week later look what I saw...

 

 

This may be a different duck family, but what are the odds of seeing another one less than a week later. It appears she's taking them to the park, hahaha. So darn cute!!!

 

 

Speechless

As I write this I’m crying, and nope it’s not due to drug induced emotion. I’ve thought long and hard as to how to best express my gratitude for what the wonderful staff I work with at the Alberta Children’s Hospital did along with the Calgary Firefighters. I always knew I had the most amazing people in my life, however I never realized just how many. I always thought people were inherently good, however I never thought for a second how caring, kind, and compassionate people could be even those that I have never met. There are no words to describe how thankful I am for everything. I wish I could list every person who did so much but I am mortified of missing a name because I want everyone who had anything to do with the other weekend to get the credit that they deserve. To leave me speechless is not an easy thing to do, and yet here I am totally speechless. For the people who are closest to me who managed to keep this all a secret I am impressed!! I hope that every single person knows how much I love them, and I wish nothing but great things to each and every one of you for making my life so much betterJ Words will never be enough to express all my gratitude to each and every one of you. Thank you.

I thought this was a pretty cool pic. Thanks J.P for everything you did:)

Herceptin #?? I don't even remember, however I was scared out of my mind that I would get some poor immunocompromised person ill with whatever respiratory illness I had!! Thanks Dr. Webster for being so easily accessible. Without a doubt the best oncologist in the world!!!!!

 

 

Lexer nicely situated herself in front of the pic of the ocean where we both wish we would be. I've never laughed so hard during an infusion such as that day. I'm really sorry if we disturbed anyone, however Lex comes very prepared with games, dice, you name it she is prepared!! Her purse is full of everything, kind of like a treasure chest, hahaha

 

This was one of Lex' games. Now if you can read the bottom it says, "WINNER." That's right I won!!

 

Ice cream on a lovely day. All kids need a day of "hooky" and some ice cream:)

 

 

Hanging with my favorite girlies!!

 

 

My sweet Sophia and my amazing mom (I love you for everything you do for me. She is the most amazing woman, and the best mom in the world)

CT Results

Cancer gives you a perspective on life that changes everything about you to the core. You are no longer the same person, as cancer forces you to think about your own mortality. Your life is lived in three month intervals. Every scan and test forces you to hold your breath not knowing what the results will show. Will I get to take a deep breath and get the chance to live a few more months knowing things are stable, or will the disease get worse forcing you to think about everything you fear. There is no way to sugar coat it, cancer strips you of the future you wish you could have. Uncertainty scares the crapola out of me, thus this past week has been mildly torturous as I awaited the results of my CT.

Well... I can tell everyone that I can breathe again!!!! Finally I got my CT results and things look good. Honestly I feel ready to have a party. Although I don’t drink and like to get to bed at a decent hour, so quite possibly the lamest party ever. However, we could have some green tea?? I know nobody is banging on my front door for that type of party but that’s fine by me. It’s as if this weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I am thrilled!! So the cancer in my bones is stable. Obviously the cancer is still there, however it has not gotten worse and as per the CT report it states that there is “mild interval improvement of the osseous metastasis.” I am so excited about this because it means that the current treatment is working. I am beyond thrilled that there is no cancer in my visceral organs because that means I can continue to live my life with enjoyment and know that in this moment It is very possible to make it to the age of 30 (however I plan to live much longer than that and have informed my oncologist of the same).

On top of all this I also got my wonderful Zoladex injection. I was ready this time with my emla cream on my stomach, however this time thanks to my fabulous nurse Nancy, it didn’t even hurt!! Her technique was fabtaculous and I hope she gives it to me everytime I need to get it. I should have told her to avoid taking vacations when I come.

So on this wonderful, sunny Thursday, I am relishing in this news. I am fully aware that sometimes this can be short lived, however I’m going to assume that this cancer gets bored of me and decides not to act up and simply disappears. All that matters is having good health, everything else is secondary. How many of us wake up, go to work, come home to make dinner, and then go to bed only to repeat this the next day?? We end up simply existing, and sadly it isn’t until something like cancer that we realize how we want to really live. For anyone reading this, figure out what you love, who you love, and what brings you the greatest joy. If you already know, recognize that your life is already pretty damn near perfect! Life is good, and I am so excited to keep on livingJ

Random Thoughts

It has been a couple weeks and I haven’t updated on anything because nothing has really happened, which is absolutely fine by me! I would much rather have a boring, mundane life then constantly have some crappy update about my health. However, there is one thing that is on my mind and has been slightly causing me stress. I have a CT coming up next week and I would like nothing more than for things to be stable with no more lovely questionable “spots” popping up. Sometimes I wish they could immediately give you a hint after one of these tests as to whether things are good, not great, or just darn right shitty. If they could give you a thumbs up or a thumbs down that would even work for me!! I mean if I need to get these tests forever it would be nice to get some hints. If they could just write on a piece of paper, “yaaay things are stable” or “shooters, your life sucks a little more.” Make it into a game or something. I could live with that, however I know that would be deemed extremely unprofessional. I guess I just need to suck it up, get the test done, and then simply not think about it?? Absolutely, that is just super duper easyJ

Other than that I went for my Herceptin infusion on Thursday which went fabulous!! 1^st try the lovely nurse got it! When we sat in the waiting room I asked Chris how many tries would it take to get the IV. I was optimistic and said they would get it on the 1^st try and Chris thought on the 3^rd try. I looked at him and thought, thanks for your joyful optimism. Long story short, I was right and I really wish we would have bet something because I would have won. I’ll remember that for next time.

Getting my infusion with their new recliners. I wouldn't say I am "dumb" per se (I have moments), however I struggle to get out of these darn chairs!! Seriously, my hubby has to push the leg part down because otherwise I would be reclined for most the afternoon. There has to be a trick to this because the frail, little elderly people can do it. I just need to figure out what the "trick" is. Stop laughing, you know who you are;)

 

I wish I could say I did something exciting but I really have not. There is one thing that my niece, AKA my princess noodle, said this past week that left me laughing hysterically. My princess noodle was over at my mom’s house, so her grandma, and my mom complained to her that her lower back hurt. She asked her if she could massage her back with her little, yet strong, fingers. My niece said, “ok,” and went on to massage her lower back. Then my niece looked at my mom and told her, “Mama I think you have tax pain.” Hahaha, honestly it was so cute and I know I should have told her what those commercials were about, but I just couldn’t because it was so sweet and innocent.

I must also add that a wonderful friend of mine had the most beautiful little boy yesterday!! He is completely precious and perfect, and I can hardly wait to give him some cuddles and loving!! I am beyond thrilled for the both of youJ Plus, I told her to memorize my licence plate because I may kidnap him, just kidding…well not really.

On another note, I hope this darn craptaculous snowy, wet weather goes away for good because I am completely over it. Why do we choose to live here again????? This weather seems to bring back the pain and swelling, and there really isn't anything about this weather that makes me happy. I have no desire to go build a snowman so please enough with this, and bring out the sunshine because I am on the verge of going to pack a suitcase to head to the airport to board any plane headed south!!!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Easter!!!

Fun Fact

I thought about calling this post statistics, however I realized nobody would read it because it would bring back wonderful memories from nursing school. Everyone remembers just wanting to finish this course because it felt like we were learning to become accountants. When we had the option to take a statistics course or anthropology I picked anthropology. I actually assumed the anthropology course would be about evolution and monkeys, so I felt I had lucked out!! Goodness, was I ever shocked when I showed up the first day and there was no mention of monkeys, and I didn’t even have a calculator. This darn course was the exact same thing as the stats course but with a different name. Honestly, am I the only one who thinks of primates when I hear the word anthropology??? Anyhow, this was a long explanation about why I decided on calling this post a "fun fact," because I really want people to read the following and think about their own life.

I am not a huge fan of statistics and what they mean because I have not fallen into the majority with regards to breast cancer. I understand that the odds of getting this disease is slim to none as many articles have noted that the chances of acquiring this disease in your 20s is less than 1%. I would have much rather have won the lottery, but nope craptaculous cancer is what I got instead. However, when someone in their 20s or 30s gets this disease generally they are diagnosed at a more advanced stage. What gets to me is someone in this age group has so much more to live for then our older counterparts, and yet we are relatively ignored or dismissed with concerns regarding our perky boobs. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want our lovely elderly population to die from this disease, absolutely not, however I am disturbed at the lackadaisical mentality that some people have with regards to this disease and young women. I can name numerous people who have gotten this disease at a young age and the impact it has had on their lives is astronomical. Many who have young children, careers, and busy lives. Therefore, when I heard what happened to a friend I became mildly angry, and motivated to change this stigma of who gets breast cancer. So a friend who had discovered a lump went to have a mammogram, and to her dismay was told that they wouldn’t do it because she was “too young to get breast cancer.” Now this made me darn right angry and frustrated. How dare someone make a bold statement such as that. In reality young people do get this disease and a part of the problem is this type of pure ignorance. Why would you make an assumption such as that to a young woman in her 20s with four young children???? If it isn’t cancer that is fantastic, however what if she falls into the less than 1% that does?? How much time do they allow to transpire before they realize something is wrong? This ignorance is what makes this disease change from a completely treatable condition to an incurable one.

If there is anything that I would love for any of my young female counterparts to know is to be self aware and ALWAYS advocate for your health. I am truly, 110%, passionate about raising awareness about breast cancer. I am a firm believer in trusting your gut. If you think something is wrong then there probably is. If a doctor dismisses your concerns because of your age, fight for what you are concerned about. Heck, bring me along because I will fight like hell for you. If you don’t fight for answers about your health then you will eventually be fighting for your life. If you don’t like your doctor, get another one. I can honestly say all the doctors I have had along the way have been phenomenal. I don’t want anyone to live with regret and think, “what if.” I can look back to when this started for me and think why the heck did I wait so long before I looked into what this lump was?? I’m a nurse and made the biggest mistake with my own health which I am now paying for. I waited because I was busy with my life. Honestly, it sounds so pathetic but it seems we make time for everything in our lives except for what is most important which is our own health. So if you ever have any doubt , a lump, pain, anything get it checked out. I will do anything and everything to change the perception of who gets breast cancer , and will fight to raise awareness so that young people can have a better chance at having a long, fabulous life!

On a complete off note it was my hubby’s 34^th birthday!! Happy birthday, I love you so muchJ

Chris as a young peanut!