Why Just Survive When You Can Thrive?

Today is my last chemo treatment. Yeah yeah - I know I said that back in July. But this time it's for real. I am really in my feels today, as my last round was rough. Waaay worse than the first four rounds of THP. Carboplatin is now tied for my most hated 'C' word.

In addition to preparing for this round, I had my radiation mapping on Tuesday. This is where they do a CAT scan to get a detailed view of where your tumor(s) is/was and then place pin point size tattoos around my breast to create waypoints for the radiation machine to follow to be extremely consistent during each treatment. As luck would have it, with my cancer on my left side, there are precautions to be taken to prevent damage to my heart. During treatments, I will have what looks like a snorkel in my mouth and a nose plug. I have to take a deep breath and hold it for 30 seconds. My inflated lungs create space between my breast tissue and my heart, hopefully sparing it from any unwanted radiation. Thankfully my love for yoga taught me how to belly breathe, which is making this easier than I feared. But it is still very awkward and uncomfortable. My radiation will begin the week of November 7, and will be 5 days a week for 4 weeks.

I want to give a big shout out to Kelly Crump and Sports Illustrated for shining a bright light on breast cancer patients. Kelly's bravery and SI's commitment to highlighting all types of women led to their first Swimsuit Edition model photographed showing her mastectomy scar. I hope this is a watershed moment where women realize how beautiful they are no matter what this terrible disease takes away. As Kelly stated in her interview, she is a cancer "thriver" who wants to share her story to help other women. Read more about her story here.