This road has been riddled with complications. Nothing
ever seemed to go right. That fact has changed a big part of who I am. I’ve
learned that while it is great to hope, wish and dream, never hold onto your
expectations too tight. Be open to other routes that you might be steered in.
And that you will be okay even if it is down a dark, scary path. You have it in
you to navigate it.
I see my surgeon today who should give me clearance to go
back to work tomorrow. The surgery she did on Friday was to make the breasts
more symmetrical and shaped well since the surgery in April was just about
building them with the tissue. All she will have left to do is two more minor
procedures that will be done under local anesthesia where I can drive myself to
and from the surgery with only a day or less recovery. One will be done on Dec.
14th and one in March 2013. I’m so thankful to have found her and
that I’m FINALLY nearing completion.
Part of me felt like I had to be done to start the rest
of my life. Funny thing is life goes on while you’re waiting it to start. And I’ve
been living it while waiting. The April surgery really gave me hope for my
future. While it was the most horrid recovery, it was the best thing for me. It
set me up with breasts made of my own tissue that will be with me for life. No
more reconstruction surgeries in the future. I can move forward and make this a
part of my past. Since April, I’ve been working on my diet – eating cleanly and
with Anti-Cancer eating properties. I’ve also been trying to gain my strength
and stamina back with working out. All of the hard work has paid off as I’ve
lost 40 pounds and am physically stronger than I’ve been in a long time. I made
a promise to myself that I was going to make life “better than it was before”
cancer and I’m off to a great start.
Part of that has been filling my life with travels that
inspire me with awe and wonder. The big one on my bucket list was Yellowstone.
And thanks to some amazing friends in the NASCAR community, that trip was
fulfilled in September. I was so strong that completed a hike down Uncle Tom’s
trail in the Canyon area of Yellowstone. 328 steps down to see Lower Falls and
the hike back up says it feels like 2,000.
The amazing part is I was strong enough to do it! Thanks to my NASCAR friends, I felt like a champion that day. 
Another great thing about this side of cancer is being
able to inspire others. An incredible woman named Lisa Vingerling started a
foundation called Pink Heals. It is about showing young women who are cancer
survivors that there can be a great life on the other side of treatment. Not
focusing on all you’ve lost, but focusing on the good and what you can gain
from the experience. She helps to help you find the joy in life, to smile
again, to meet other women with the same battle scars and to see the beauty in
you again. I participated in a fashion show on Sept. 27 (yes, the night before
surgery) she put on and thanks to hair and makeup, I felt like a million bucks.
The best part was Lisa said some new survivors were in the audience and they
were so blown away by all of us survivors – to see us happy and thriving meant
the world to them to know that they can do it too.
Thanks for taking this journey with me.
Xoxo,
Marcy
