Cancer-versary

An edited version of this was posted by Hair’s How on 8/16. The complete story is here…

I celebrated my cancer-versary marking the date of my diagnoses recently, and found myself marveling at the difference a year can make. A year since I was diagnosed – forget our trip to Greece, chemo, Big Hair Date Night and the Haircutting Party, losing my hair, 3 trips to the ER (Grace: 1, me: 2), a double mastectomy,6 weeks of radiation, returning to work, personally raising $4k dollars and walking Relay for Life, several awkward “pump up” visits to my plastic surgeon to fill my expanders, a wedding in San Diego and Grace’s 2nd birthday, and an appointment with my friend Michael at The Loft Salon to die my wonderful new chemo curls platinum blonde… all within a year?! After facing the biggest challenge of my life, I’m back at work, hair on my head, struggling with balancing the day to day just like everyone else… almost like nothing ever happened. I’m a survivor, but if I thought that survival was the end game with a cancer diagnosis I would miss the biggest lesson I took from the experience; that the real work begins after treatment is complete.

 

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Hair’s How Blog/Cancer-versary

I have begun writing for Hair’s How again on a weekly basis, as well as in the printed version of their publication that go to salons nationwide. It seems incongruous, being a publication for salons and stylists, however they asked me to share my story last year, and begin blogging for them during my cancer experience. It was one of the first opportunities I had to pursue writing, which I’d always secretly dreamed of, and helped me process my breast cancer experience. The past 14 months have been all about boobies around here, so there’s plenty of material.

Please check out their site… I will continue to post the complete version of the blog post here, with an edited version on Hair’s How.

http://hot.hairshow.us/?id=articles&art=58