At this time last year, I had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Can you believe it's been a year already? A year.
I found this old picture the other day. It was taken after our first visit with the oncologist - the one where we learned that the mastectomy wasn't enough; I needed chemo.
I'm not sure why we snapped...
So. It's been three months since my last chemo treatment. I'm feeling completely back to normal. I still get tired (like, really tired) by the afternoon, but I can no longer remember if that's a chemo-recovery thing or a mom thing. Probably a bit of both. And I am making peace with my short hair. I even...like it? Mostly?
It's...
The upside of chemo was the consistency. The first three days after each treatment I'd be manic from the steroids. This is when I would typically go shopping. (I could distract myself and keep moving - perfect, no?) And if I was going to get nauseous, the nausea would hit sometime during this period. But thanks to a drug...
Let's do this thing.
Yes. I did steal this off the head of a baby. (No I did not. I stole it off a box of shoes. (Thanks, Tieks!) Which may actually be worse.
(Fellow Flowers - how about some headbands?)
ANYWAY...I've never been so excited to shave my legs. HA! Add that to things I never thought I'd say.
But this process is...
Raines looked over my shoulder as I was writing this. "Wow, Mom! That picture's of Christmas Eve!" he said reverently.
Indeed. This pic was taken by my mom last Christmas. Not Christmas Eve, but, you know, close enough. I'm currently in Michigan, sitting in front of the fire, curled up with my laptop, coffee, and chocolate. Not a bad way...
I. Am. Done. IAMDONE. That fact makes my head spin a little bit...it doesn't feel real. I don't have any more medications to take. No more shots. No more IVs, or bone pain, or nausea. The big stuff? The really tough stuff? Is over.
There are times when I feel a sense of excitement (Yay for me! I made it!!!)....but...
Do you know what I wore to my very first tailgate? My sorority had partnered with...Sigma something or Alpha whatever and ANYWAY...I wore overalls. Over a voluminous plaid flannel shirt and those yellow workboots that were all grunge-cool in 1995. Mine had a chunky heel, natch. Five years later, know what my sister wore to her first tailgate? A...
We are getting into the car. It's date night! "Nice tights" says Mike. What? Tights? "No honey," I correct him. "These are leggings."
Mike looks confused. "They are? Hunh. They look like tights."
"I'm not wearing a skirt" I point out. "So these are leggings. Which are pants."
"Ok" he says, agreeably. "But they're kinda like tights since they're so sheer, right?"
I...
Look at me, all sassy. This is the face of a girl who has had two surgeries in as many months, and has survived one round of chemo. Yeah, baby.
This girl is, all things considered, feeling pretty good. (HA! That'll change.)
wearing:
shirt: Madewell
tee: old...here's my current fav
pants: J.Crew Pixie pant in leather tux stripe
Oh, and I'm wearing my work shirt like...
While I was home this summer, I wandered into Getz's...and came back out with these shoes.
I know!!
They have a furry lining. I was powerless to resist.
These have been the shoes I've reached for over and over again. These are the shoes I wore on my first real walk, post-mastectomy...
Lookin' pretty torn up there, S
....and the shoes that,...