Cancer Journey Blog Posts
How to Prepare for a Hysterectomy
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be searching the internet for “how to prepare for a hysterectomy,” but at age 36 that’s exactly where I found myself. I imagine you never thought the same for yourself, did you? But since this is where life has brought...
20 Questions to Ask Your Oncologist & Healthcare Team to Stay Informed
Upon receiving a cancer diagnosis, you will likely have a hundred questions to ask your oncologist about what this means and what’s to come. But sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what to ask when you’re still shellshocked by the news. To help give you a...
How to Help Other Cancer Patients Once Treatment is Over
We learn A TON going through cancer treatment! We’ve learned how to manage side effects of medications, resources that helped us through, coping mechanisms, and how to advocate for ourselves. After treatment, some survivors are ready to leave it all behind them and...
Coping Mechanisms During Cancer Treatment
Hearing the words “you have cancer” is enough to make even the most resilient among us stop in their tracks. It’s a heavy phrase that no one ever wants to hear. And yet, according to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1.8 million people will hear that phrase...
Preparing for DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction
If you’ve done much research at all on DIEP flap breast reconstruction, you probably already know it’s a doozey of a procedure. With a long recovery timeline, there’s definitely some prep work that needs to be done before surgery! For those reading this who may...
Preparing for a Mastectomy
Preparing for a mastectomy can be difficult. Especially when all you want to do is forget that the procedure is coming. But doing some prep work ahead of time will make the healing process – both physical and emotional -- that much easier. Here are tips that...
Tips to Get Through Colonoscopy Prep
Quick poll: who is super excited for their colonoscopy prep and procedure? Yup, thought so. Truthfully, I’m not sure why they get such a bad rap. It’s a quick and easy medical procedure that gets you a day off work, plus that ever popular colon cleanse...
9 Things To Know Before A Cancer Diagnosis
It’s not like anyone plans on a cancer diagnosis, so how are we supposed to know what to do with if we get the news? There are a lot of things we learn too late. Either it’s too late to utilize that resource, or we’ve already spent hours upon hours of online...
Unexpected Chemo Side Effects
Most of us are familiar with chemotherapy medications having a ton of side effects. Like, an obnoxious amount. If Adriamycin/Cytoxan or Taxol are in your chemo regimen, be sure to check out these two articles about common side effects! These are the side...
The Radiant Robe: An Honest Review
In April, I wrote an honest review of The Radiant Wrap. These silky-feeling or cotton wraps are designed by a breast cancer survivor with radiation patients in mind. I loved the look and feel of the wrap! But I found that I had a hard time utilizing it for radiation...
Chemo Survival Guide: Taxol Side Effects
This article is a comprehensive list of the Taxol side effects I experienced and heard of, with tips on how to mitigate them. If you’ve followed me for very long or have perused my other articles, you know I’ve already posted one article on the Chemo Survival Guide to...
Why You Should Do A Cancer Walk
One of the most iconic scenes regarding cancer is people in outrageous outfits and tutus at a cancer walk fundraiser. Even if you’ve never had a family member diagnosed, you’ve likely seen or participated in one of the events. Somewhere along the way, I think...