Tag Archives: breast cancer

My Word for 2012 – FITNESS

Posted on
6

I stopped making New Year Resolutions years ago. As soon as I make them, I break them. Resolutions, in my mind, are too big, too rigid, too heavy. Like once I make a resolution I’m stuck with the pink elephant sitting on my lap.

A couple of years ago I adopted a word for the new year ahead. Last year my word was focus. Looking back at 2011, I think I did a fine job of focusing on what I wanted to accomplish so that I wouldn’t go bonkers while my husband was deployed. This year my word is

FITNESS

Life happens. I got older. I got fatter. I got (ahem) lazy. Richard came home from deployment and I was no longer eating salad in a bag. He loves to cook. I love to eat. We have a love-love relationship. Except my metabolism came to a screeching halt. My energy went south for vacation (and forgot to take me along.) I became a slug.

Too make matters worse, my boobs are woefully, pathetically, and embarrassingly lopsided. Most of you know that when I had breast cancer I surrendered my left breast. In its place is a lovely little implant. And right now, compared to my right breast it is teeny, oh so teeny tiny. I want my matching set back!

The new year approached, I knew what I had to do and the word Fitness chose me. Not just physical fitness but mental fitness, emotional fitness, and spiritual fitness. You could say I want to be well rounded.

To cover all my bases, I’ve implemented the following changes (and one reason I’m writing this post now as opposed to January 1, is because once in a row doesn’t count)

I’m on the 90 Day Fitness challenge at the dojo.

I’m on the 90 Day Body By Vi Challenge (super cool, super good!)

I’m on my yoga mat every single morning for 30 minutes BEFORE I go to work

I’m at the dojo 3 times a week for Muay Thai Kickboxing

I’ve eliminated coffee and alcohol from my diet. (And let me just add right here that I already notice a HUGE difference in how I feel. For now, no more Chianti or Malbec and good-bye Melita European Dark Roast. Hello green tea and lemon water…

I already feel skinnier :-)

I want to look good. I want to feel good. I wish there was there was a slugbegone spray mist I could simply squirt on myself but this Fitness thing is all about being unlazy in all my habits.

In an effort to be honest, I started the year off weighing 169 lbs or 172 lbs depending on which scale I stood on, and my measurements are super wonky – 38, 38, 44. My goal is to be 135 lbs, 36, 26, 36. Once I reach that, I’ll reassess.

If you’d like to learn more about the Body By Vi Challenge, if you’d like to join me with a Challenge of your own, I invite you to check out my page. After five days of using the Visalus products, I’m so impressed that I signed on as a distributor. I’ll be posting my results every two weeks. With photos and everything.

My Why

Posted on
3

Cactus Blooms by Peggy Nolan

Why do I blog? Why do I write? Why do I keep putting my thoughts and my experiences on paper and in cyber space? This is one reason.

I received this email the other day:

Dear Peggy,

I stumbled across your site while typing in “change your life after cancer”

I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 21, I’ve had a mascetomy, a stem cell transplant,a lobectomy, lots of radiation, chemo, and just the other day a hysterectomy! Honey I am tired!!!! I’m 36 now.

I really like how positive your site is. I told my husband that I am done. He’s really not taking this well and said I was “giving up”

Well I’m not dead! I told him and I just am sick of being sick. I’m going to do things that I want to do and just have a good time.

The thing is is that I enjoy living and I’m unafraid of dying. I equally welcome both. Life is not guaranteed and even though I’ve have cancer, I’ve also had so much fun in life.

Thank you for your blog and I’m happy I found it.

Blessings-
Tasha

***

Thank you Tasha. And Thank You to anyone who is struggling with something yet still living life on their terms. In the dojo we say “resistance makes you stronger.” In life, the struggle makes you stronger. Just ask the caterpillar after it becomes a butterfly.

Why I Choose A Drama-Free and Stress-Lite Life

Posted on
6

“Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent.” Steve Jobs

How A Life Threatening Illness Changed My Life living Wellness Stress Mind Body Living Lifestyle How to Change Health Habits Courage Change Nearly eight years ago I was diagnosed with an illness that makes many women shudder. No one wants to hear the words, “you have breast cancer,” least of all on a dark, cold night six weeks after your fortieth birthday. Still reeling from the end of my nineteen year marriage, I felt that I had been thrown a test before I knew what the lesson was. I was a divorced, single parent with my oldest daughter in college and my youngest daughter a sophomore in high school. I had just bought a new home and I worked full-time. So many what if’s ran through my mind.

  • Who was going to take care of my girls if I died?
  • Would I see my youngest graduate?
  • Would I see my oldest be the third person in our family to graduate college?
  • Would I live to go wedding dress shopping with them?
  • Would I watch them get married and have children of their own?
  • Would I hold my grand babies in my arms?
  • Would I ever know what it feels like to have a man truly, madly, deeply love me?
  • Would I experience all the places in the world I had not yet seen?
How A Life Threatening Illness Changed My Life living Wellness Stress Mind Body Living Lifestyle How to Change Health Habits Courage Change

The Author After Her Head Shaving Party – June 2004

Through two surgeries (one to remove my left breast and 26 lymph nodes), chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and reconstructive surgery, I never once asked, “why me?” Instead, I remember asking “what else am I supposed to learn?” Steve Jobs once said, “The benefit of death is you know not to waste life living someone else’s choices.” And that’s the lesson I learned.

Before cancer, I thought I was making good choices and doing the right things. Only the good choices and right things very rarely had anything to do with me. I was hardly ever on my priority list. I was the “good” girl: living my life based on the expectations of others.

During and after cancer treatment, I realized that I had to put myself first. No one was going to advocate for me better than me. No one was going to value me, make time for me, love me, or deserve me unless I valued myself, made time for myself, loved myself, or deemed myself worthy. I quit some awful habits.

  • I stopped being a people pleaser.
  • I stopped saying yes to everyone and everything.
  • I stopped doing things that were unimportant in my life.
  • I stopped looking for love in all the wrong emotional places.
  • I stopped seeking the approval of others.

I learned better habits:

  • I made healthier food choices.
  • I started practicing yoga and meditation.
  • I learned to reduce and manage every day stress.
  • I embraced who and what I am.
  • I began to focus on the people and things that were important in my life.

A funny thing happened on the day I signed my living will and DNR paperwork. Death no longer scared me. I remember walking out of the notary’s office feeling this amazing sense of calm and peacefulness. Knowing that I could die, and will die someday, gave me a brand new perspective and lease on life. I promised myself that I would live my life instead of waiting for it to happen or allowing the expectations and choices of others to dictate my life. In the famous words from the poem Invictus, I became the “captain of my fate, the master of my destiny.”

A lot has happened since my original breast cancer diagnosis in January 2004.

  • I watched both my daughters graduate.
  • I met the love of my life and married him!
  • My husband gifted me with two stepdaughters and two stepsons.
  • I’ve gone wedding dress shopping with three of my four daughters.
  • I’ve witnessed two daughters get married.
  • I’ve held my grand babies in my arms (and still do!).
  • I became a certified yoga teacher.
  • I became a first degree black belt in Muay Thai Kickboxing.
  • I learned how to play golf!
  • I’ve traveled to Mexico, Italy, Turks & Caicos, Ireland, the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Spain, Key West, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, San Francisco, Seattle, and I’m looking forward to an eight day hike on the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island in June 2012.

I’ve done so much more but I think you get the picture. Don’t wait for a life threatening illness to learn what I learned. Live YOUR life now – not someone else’s.

“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” ~ Steve Jobs

Get Inspired: The Thirty Day Affirmation Challenge

Posted on
2

I’ve been caught on the crazy-go-round of living my life trapped in negative thinking. I’ve experienced a painful divorce that ended my first marriage. I know first hand what it’s like to be on the short end of the adultery stick. I had very little time to regroup and pull myself together…five months after my divorce was final, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

This was my wake-up call. I knew I had to do life differently. In 2002, I started collecting inspiring quotes and reading positive and life affirming stories of others. I started peeling back the layers until I got to the root cause of my thoughts and beliefs. I kept that which was true for me and discarded the rest. I replaced misperceptions and untruths with the wholesome what is so for me.

This book began as an idea to inspire women who’ve been caught in the downward spiral of incessant negative thinking and over analyzing. Our lives don’t have to be messy, complicated, or chaotic.  We can choose to participate in the drama or do something different. The choice is always ours.

On the Shelf

Get Inspired: The 30 Day Affirmation Challenge by Peggy Nolan. $12.99. All proceeds between February 2 and March 31 will be donated to Peggy’s Avon Breast Cancer Walk! You can purchase the book HERE.

Please help me spread the word…this is my first evah eBook!

Rest In Peace ~ Elizabeth Edwards

Posted on
11

I didn’t always agree with her politics. I wasn’t a fan of her husband’s either. But I admired Elizabeth Edwards. When I heard she passed away yesterday, I was saddened by the news. Her personal struggles played out on center stage in the public arena.

The loss of her son Wade. Her Stage III breast cancer diagnosis in 2004. Her husband’s cheatin’ heart. She struggled. She endured. But in the end, God called home His brave and valiant warrior.

My heart goes out to her family, especially her children.

As a breast cancer survivor, it tears me up inside to know that another woman has fallen. I’m tired of this disease. I hate that it leaves such a wide path of pain and devastation. I’m scared for my own daughters who have to face facts that they’re at risk.

Breast cancer taught me a lot about myself. One thing became clear to me, though, and that was to send the message to women everywhere,

“Take Better Care of Yourself!”

Choose healthy food. Organic whenever possible. Free range, hormone free.

Reduce or elimate alcohol – I like my martinis and my red wine…but the studies are conclusive. Alcohol results in 11% of breast cancer diagnosis’.

Reduce or elimate stress - Shed toxic people. Don’t buy into the emotional trauma of drama. Don’t buy the ticket to the next guilt trip someone invites you on.

Exercise – Move every day. Walk, run, hike, rollerskate, practice yoga, zumba, dance, karate, muay thai kickboxing. Find an activity you love, get off your ass, and move.

Mediate or Pray – every day. Ten minutes, 20 minutes. Carve out that time to be quiet. Be still. Listen.

Quit Multitasking – It doesn’t work anyway. Multitasking is a key ingredient for a chaotic, frantic, stress filled life.

Breathe – While you’re meditating, praying, standing in line, waiting at a red light, just breathe. Inhale through your nose, exhale through your nose. Fill your belly up with fresh oxygen. Imagine it traveling throughout your body, in your blood stream, nourishing your cells. As you exhale, imagine all the toxins and negative energy leaving your body. Breathe. For breath is life.

Self-exams & Mammograms – I know! The studies on when and who should do this are confusing. Know your body. If your 40 or older, get your mammogram. I realize not everyone is going to agree with me, but gosh darn it, my brand of breast cancer was only detected by mammogram. Four people, including me, felt me up and couldn’t feel a damn thing.

I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on TV. But I am an expert on breast cancer. I had it. I lived it. I survived it. I lost a breast and 26 lymph nodes to it. I’ll never be free and clear of it – it’s always a risk even though I’m nearly seven years post diagnosis.

Take care of yourself first. Don’t put yourself last on your priority list. Your needs are just as important as everyone else’s. You matter. You count. You are important.  ~ Peggy Nolan

I make no apologies for my 500 word public service announcement. But I do have a favor to ask – you see that little pink Avon Breast Cancer Walk widget to your right? Click on it. Donate $1.00. Then tell two friends to donate $1.00. And ask them ask their friends to donate $1.00. And so on and so on. Not only am I “in it to end it” but I’m getting off my ass and walking so you don’t have to (but I challenge you to find a team near you and walk!!)

To your good health!

Peggy