I got the message last night from a friend that I always dread. “Hey Tiff, how did you handle the mental aspect of waiting on biopsy results”. My heart sank. This is my 6th friend/family member who has been diagnosed since my diagnosis. As much as you feel you have moved on past the bell ringing, these are the moments that trigger all of the fear and anxiety as you start recalling your experience as you try to help them understand all that is coming.
It really makes me question what is causing what seems to be a major uptick in cancer incidents, especially those in younger people. I think about everything I have ingested into my body in my 40+ years of existence. I truly believe a lot of it is our food supply, but also in the lifestyle we lead that drives cortisol and fails to promote rest and healing. I applied for a clinical trial with University of Penn for a new treatment aimed at eliminating all circulating micromets in your system to prevent recurrence. My fingers are crossed that even if I can’t get into the trial, that it still yields a hopeful option to prevent recurrence.
I continue to research and tweak my daily protocols, diet, and modalities to promote healing. I passed my one year mark of being alcohol free on New Year’s Eve which was a crazy milestone for me. I don’t really miss it after this long and it was nice waking up on New Year’s Day feeling awake and refreshed. I continue to experiment with mocktails at ever bar I visit!
On a more positive note, I am officially eight days away from my hysterectomy date and the great news is that my bloodwork shows my iron and iron stores are back within the healthy range so it’s an all clear for the procedure! The past three months have been challenging, and I look forward to no longer being bloated, crampy and low on energy every day.
I have been doing Pilates three to four days a week building core strength. I am very hopeful that this will allow me to bounce back quickly after surgery. I set myself a goal to complete a trail ride on the GAP/C&O from Pittsburgh to DC at the end of summer, so I’m anxiously awaiting the all clear from my doctor to start training as soon as possible!
I will post again post-hysterectomy to share tips and recommendations for anyone else on the same path. Individual stories range from easy recoveries to horror stories, so it’s hard to really know what to expect. I am just ready to get my body back to some sense of normalcy with the endocrine therapy.
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