One of the things that I have never talked about is when I told my son that I had cancer. I think that was the hardest conversation I had at the time it was happening, more so than telling my parents and friends. When my doctor diagnosed me with breast cancer, I called my ex-wife to tell her the results.…
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Stand Up For Your Beliefs
By: Steve Del Gardo For the last several years, well mostly the last 5 years, I have read many articles, posts on social media on how people are imposing their beliefs on others when it involves cancer. Telling us how to use certain words to describe our cancer journey or how we should feel. Telling us not to use…
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A Glitch
By: Beatrice Compagnon On learning to live with a body you didn’t choose. “Don’t worry, it is just a little bit of cancer. We will get you better in no time.” These weren’t the words I expected to hear on my 37th birthday. Ok, it’s not invasive, stage zero — that should be easy to fix, right? No chemo,…
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Ugliness of the Pink Ribbon
By Lora Harvey As all the air left my lungs, time stood still on June 15, 2017. And I seemingly forgot how to breathe. Only when my respiratory system took over again did I inhale.In that split second, my life began dismantling. Microscopic cracks at first, but those compound and quickly become unnegotiable divides. I was never the girl that…
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We Belong To One Another
Mia’s bilateral mastectomy was in 2007, and mine was in 2010. Numerous times since then, we’ve both had people say to us, “Can’t you just get over it?”, and other similar comments. We know there are women both in treatment and post-treatment that hear these same words every single day. And we also know words like that can cause a…
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HEALING THE WHOLE WOMAN
One can’t imagine the stigma, loneliness, pain and sometimes embarrassment that comes with cutting off your breasts. Women are “known” for their breasts – after all that’s what makes a woman beautiful and voluptuous, right?! So losing them can be a major blow to one’s heart and soul. There isn’t much, if any, information out there on how to heal…
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THINGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN PRIOR TO MY MASTECTOMY
A mastectomy, either single or double, is a common treatment for women with breast cancer. I asked some of my friends to contribute to the conversation, and this is the information that many from the breast community wish they had known. 1. I wish I had taken pictures documenting procedure and recovery, and journaled. There’s so much I have forgotten!…
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THE GRACE PROJECT AND HEALING MY SOUL
By: Mia Curtiss A few years back I was asked to participate in “The Grace Project” in Chicago. After a comedy of errors it never happened. God knew far better than me I was by no means ready to pose topless without my breasts. Fast forward two years later the opportunity presents itself again and although I’m extremely uncomfortable…
- BODY POSITIVE, BREAST CANCER, BREAST CANCER AWARENESS, FLAT CLOSURE NOW, FLATTIES UNITE, LIFE AFTER BREAST CANCER, MASTECTOMY, RECLAIMING MY BODY
It Changed Me
I never thought I’d be that girl that would pose topless for photos…..