“Please all, and you will please none.” ― Aesop Many of the posts here are about my “story”. The story of how I became a health and wellness junkie, the story behind the cancer, the hair, the boobs. On the surface these stores simply describe the course of events through my life. But deep down, my inner stories have a deeper and more profound impact on my life. I have a story in my head, as I am sure many of you do, about the whys and hows of my life. Excuses for the various directions I have taken. My internal story, it turns out, is a bit of a pity party. Well, today my pity party was abruptly halted by words of wisdom from a very close friend. It is true I have heard this nugget of advice before (my husband has tried on many occasions), but today the truth and simplicity struck me. The key , my friend shared with me, was to separate the “facts” from the “story”. When I started to view a recent issue I was struggling with from this point of view, I discovered more and more story, and less and less fact. I have struggled throughout my life with a near compulsion to try to make everyone around me happy. I find myself saying yes more often than I should, and feel a ridiculous amount of guilt when I say no. It turns out that this guilt is all based on a story in my […]
Read MoreWho really wants to go for a mammogram. Before I got pregnant with Wyatt, someone suggested, (I think it was my mother), that I go for a “baseline” mammogram. I was in my early thirties but had a family history of Breast Cancer. How bad could it really be? I remember asking my mother and she described it to me as if I were lying down on the driveway and having your breast be run over by a car. Perfect image in my head to start the adventure. So some time in 2005 I went. It really wasn’t half as bad as my mom made it out to be. Life went on and I had Wyatt, I breast fed him for 10 months. The beginning was awful, it hurt and my nipples were raw and raging. At one point I even got mastitis and poor Tim had to “milk” it out of me. That is when I knew I truly met the man of my dreams :). Then came Nate and I nursed him as well again not so comfortable but I did it anyway. When I was all done with the breast feeding, I figured I should go back for another mammogram to check up on the girls. You are supposed to wait some period of time after you stop nursing, so I did and about 9 months later I went back. This time to a new place. I remember sitting outside the office on the phone with Carlene […]
Read MoreMy story: 7 years ago I met the man of my dreams. We got married in March of 2005 bought our first home, a one bedroom apartment in NYC. We had our first child Wyatt, in August of 2006. Our second boy, Nate came in 2008. We moved to Stamford CT a few months after that and in 2009 I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer. Oh I forgot to mention just before I was diagnosed I did my first ever sprint triathlon just four days before the “big news”. It was a long road but two years later, practically to the day, I completed my second sprint triathlon and I am not stopping!!! My mantra- Taken from Melissa Ethridge’s song, I just added a few words “I Swim,Bike, Run for Life“. My hope – Is that I can help educate and encourage other women to take their health in their own hands and stay happy and healthy. Life is way to short.
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