This picture was taken days before my final chemo treatment one year ago, yet it feels like a lifetime has passed. I know that some point I will stop noting the passage of time by cancer-related milestones (one year ago I was getting my last chemo, a few days later, my last chemo-related ER visit, etc.) but I’m not there yet. Instead, I often find myself off-kilter, like an outside observer of my life. It’s a feeling I fight.
I had another checkup with my oncologist last week at Penn. (Everything is totally fine, they just like to keep close tabs on you.) We talked about how I’m tolerating the daily tamoxifan (good), and how my energy levels aren’t quite up to par. My oncologist had promised that they’d return to normal levels in a year, and next week will mark one year since my last chemo, soooooo……WHADDUP, Doc? Right?
Yeah. Well. As it turns out, chemo is, uh, not the nicest substance on the planet. Life saving, to be sure, but it breaks you down. Like, really and truly breaks your body down. Recovering from chemo isn’t like taking a few months off from working out, it’s a whole different ball game. In fact, it doesn’t sound like a game at all. My oncologist’s exact words were, “If you ever want to run again, really and truly be a runner….you’re going to have to fight for it.”
I guess I’m not done fighting.
I’ve been putting off choosing the winners for this giveaway. There were just so many names: 250, to be exact. And in the comments, all of the heartbreak is there: my mom, my aunt, my sister, my mother-in-law, my best friend. There are moms of two, women who are pregnant, and a mom who is also dealing with the loss of a child.
In this fight, I wish I was well and truly alone.
But you, dear readers, have been so amazingly supportive. Both of me and my own personal fight, and now of these women. Together we raised enough money to spoil FOUR women currently fighting breast cancer with a $250 Stella & Dot shopping spree, plus a $100 gift card of their choosing. (I was thinking grocery stores but if they want Nordstroms I totally get it, LOL) Here are our giveaway winners (I’ll be emailing each of you as well):
1. Elisa R – nominated Terry I (Terry I, if you are reading, the universe really wanted you to win because the next THREE names picked by a random generator had all nominated you as well. Isn’t that crazy??)
2. Jennifer Y – nominated Lauren H
3. Jodi B – nominated Kristina M
4. Oh Judy – nominated Jennifer Z
Thank you – so much, so very, very much – to all of you who supported our #fightinglikeagirl trunk show. Love and light you babes. Keep fighting the good fight.
S
