Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

Yes, this is the kind of question you can only hear when breast cancer survivors meet and talk, in this case, about reconstruction. I recently went to my support group luncheon again, after having missed quite a few because I was too busy at work. The Pink Ribbon Cowgirls (PRC) is a support group organized by the Breast Cancer Resource Center . We share our histories and even though some are in different stages of diagnosis, treatment or recovery, and some stories may be hard to hear, I always feel blessed to be part of that group, to connect with my fellow-survivors, hear how they are doing, what new is going on and catching up in general. While it is not always easy we do laugh a lot, and I thought I'd share some snippets of the ridiculous conversations that we have : "Do you still have your ovaries?" "I get so many hot flashes all the time I don't even know what's causing them anymore. Chemo? Meds?" "Think I look good? I have a base...

Living with cancer is not easy, and that coming from someone who, on a scale of 1-10, probably only had a difficulty of 4 or 5. It is the afterwards, the afterwards that also poses a challenge. Why am I feeling tired? I didn't feel that pain before, I wonder what it is? Should I call my doctor? I missed my spinach smoothie this week, I hope I am not endangering my life. I wonder if I am exercising enough? I'd really love to have some bread pudding, will that doom me? It's time for a checkup, I wonder what they'll find...? The endless stress of trying to manage, well, everything sometimes gets a bit too much so I've decided to take a break. So what does that look like? For me, it means I haven't been taking my gazillion supplements (vitamin D, calcium, curcumin amongst other things), I've not been making my spinach smoothies, AND I've just decided to watch only shows I've seen before. So right now that means I am binging on Smallville.  I h...

I had read  a blog post by someone on one of the cancer blogs I follow who described the, "Now what?" much more eloquently than I could. I've been trying to find it, but can't, unfortunately. In it she described the time when the initial fuss is over  - the shock of the diagnosis, there is no chemo, no radiation, no surgery to speak of. But at the same time, as a survivor, it is still very much in the forefront of your mind, and you are still living with the effects of cancer and the treatment. While not whining or complaining, she accurately described how I feel, which is, even though I may not be in active treatment, I am still living with cancer. And how has that changed me? I find myself behaving a bit differently than I used to - I wear more makeup now, and nice clothes. I don't dress down as often as I used to - for some reason it is important I look good. Must be my way of saying, " You take that cancer!" I don't know if my brain chemistr...