6 months since last chemo!

OK, not a great picture, but I wanted to show off my new little baby curls that are growing in :)  Tomorrow marks 6 months since my last chemotherapy treatment.  I feel like I have come such a long way from the low-energy, miserable days of chemo where walking to the corner mailbox was more than I could handle.  I am now sprinting up and around my 2 mile, 200+ stairs uphill hike where I do a top of the hill resistance band workout with little effort.  My energy is back to normal and I am feeling great.  I have been feeling pretty darned good for a while now, but noticeably better all of the time.  I attribute my quick comeback to life to figuring out how to regulate my sleeping patterns which were completely screwed up during chemo, along with eating right and getting as much exercise as I can around my work schedule.  I was able to get myself off of all of my prescription meds very soon after my treatments and I believe that also helped in my body being able to get itself back to normal in a timely manner.

I can't stress enough how eating the right foods will allow your body to perform at it's maximum potential.  I start most days with a blend of vegetables and fruits in my nutria-bullet.  A typical breakfast smoothie for me might be a large handful of kale and/or spinach, a carrot, 1/2 stalk of celery, a variety of berries or other fruit (whatever I have on hand), a protein source (yogurt, or protein powder), a small bit of flax seed and water.  All mixed together into an ugly but tasty green smoothie.  I was never the best at getting my daily amounts of fruits and veggies but that has since changed.  I continue to eliminate added sugars from my diet and try to eat mostly fresh, raw and unprocessed foods.  I do however slip from time to time and I do allow myself the occasional dessert - after all, life is for living and not depriving ourselves of every simple pleasure.  And, my occasional evening glass of wine has come back to the table.

Aside from my energy and attempted good eating and exercise habits, I have incorporated a few other changes into my life.  Along my journey I discovered essential oils and the many health benefits that can be attained by using them.  I have incorporated the oils into my health and wellbeing routines and am slowly replacing many household personal products as well as cleaners with healthy natural alternatives.  Creating a healthy environment around myself and my family is very important to me and I understand this even more now that I have been through cancer diagnosis/treatments.

And, finally and probably most important is my mental state and mindset.  Having cancer and the fear of dying from this disease helped give me perspective on many things.  Foremost, I have a much higher tolerance for people and the things that they do without passing immediate judgment.  I know from the heart that everyone has their own opinions and lives their lives the way that they see fit according to their situations - and we don't always know what is really going on with other people.  I think that sometimes we are quick to judge others based on how we feel and that is not really the right thing to do.  I have made great progress in taking things and people more in stride and not letting things that used to bother me get under my skin.  I find myself now smiling and understanding rather than judging.  It's a great feeling and not only benefits the person I am talking with, but myself as I find a renewed energy in being accepting of others.  Life is happier that way.

So, there you have it.  From diagnosis, fear of dying, losing my breasts, having new foobs (fake boobs) built, chemotherapy treatments, hair loss, hair growth - here I stand.  I hope that I can provide strength and hope to those going through what I've just been through.  It is hard.  Really hard.  But you can, with positive thought and forward thinking come out the other side better than you were when you went in.

Believe and take care of yourselves <3