I’m pretty tired – I had two midterms today and I have a 12-hour clinical rotation tomorrow in a psychiatric unit. So today, I’ll just share a video that always makes me laugh.
Teal September
I know I talk a lot about breast cancer, but ovarian cancer is really what started me on this journey. Ovarian cancer took the life of my beloved grandmother. Unfortunately, ovarian cancer does not receive the type of attention it should, and its symptoms are not often shared. Today marks a very important day, as the US Senate passed a resolution to officially make September Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. Hopefully this will bring more attention to the deadly disease (the deadliest of all gynecological cancers). Teal is also the color for ovarian cancer awareness, so remember to wear teal this September!
To find out about ovarian cancer symptoms, click here
To learn about risk factors for ovarian cancer (including the BRCA genetic mutation and Lynch Syndrome), click here
To learn about reducing your ovarian cancer risk, click here
Breast Cancer Blogs
Check out this list of breast cancer blogs to follow, put together by ‘Beyond The Buzz: Healthcare Social Media’ writer, Marie Ennis-O’Connor. It is a great resource and features yours truly at #88!! I am honored to be on this list as a previvor blog. Check it out here.
This is How We Do Iiiiiiiiiiit
This post is named after my all time favorite karaoke jam! Also, today was an awesome day where I got a lot accomplished. Here’s a list below. I’m proud of myself.
- Met up with my friend who had her prophylactic mastectomy 2 weeks ago – got some great tips. She also showed me her breasts and they looked much better than I expected for 2 weeks out, so that was encouraging
- Studied for midterms
- Went to Nordstrom to get an initial surgery top fitting and see wireless bra options for after my tissue expanders are full
- Exercised 3 times today – long walk in Santa Monica, gym workout, and rebounder class
- Had a chat with a Hawaiian healer about tips to spiritually prepare my body for the mastectomy
- Met with a colleague from USF Alumni Engagement to talk about my blog and how USF’s MPH program helped train me for health advocacy
- Watched Real Housewives of New York reunion (possibly the most important thing I did today haha jk)
Self Care
As a nursing student, we are always taught about the importance of self care. You can’t be a good nurse without caring for yourself. Since my mastectomy is less than a month away, I’m starting to rev up my self care, which has been pretty fun. I’ve been working out a lot more and focusing on my core, range of motion, and back (since I won’t be able to use my arms for weeks). I also used a Living Social deal that had almost expired on an awesome massage. I’ve been going to meditation classes at the gym too AKA total relaxation classes. I swear I feel like I just got an hour massage after these classes bc of how relaxed I am.
The meditation instructor has a free 10 min download of his class, if you want to try and “reset” (the name of his class).
Post-Mastectomy Recovery
I’m working on a checklist of things to have to prepare for a mastectomy, so I can add it to my blog and help others prep. In the meantime, check out the footage from this awesome session I went to during the FORCE conference.
Good Humor
Having a sense of humor about this journey has made the process a heck of a lot easier for me. Below is an exchange between me and Chrissy Teigen on Twitter. For those of you who don’t know who Chrissy is, she’s a model who happens to be hilarious and also married to John Legend (who features a breast cancer survivor in his awesome new video). She was so nice to respond to me in less than a minute! Ps – if you don’t already, follow me on Twitter!
T-Minus 1 Month
Today is one month until my mastectomy on August 26th (AKA ticking time bomb breasts removal). It’s crazy that I found out about my BRCA mutation in 2007, made the decision to have a preventative mastectomy this December, and started Funky Genes in May. The time has flown by and I honestly can’t believe the surgery is coming up so soon. Luckily, I feel really prepared and have the next month to finalize everything I need during recovery.
Am I scared? Yep. Am I still 100% confident in my decision? Absolutely. My support network and the people I’ve reached through my decision to go public with this journey have been incredible. I’ve had tons of friends and family offer their support, and I’ve even had some reach out to me about getting the BRCA genetic test themselves. I’ve even had people I don’t know reach out to me because they had questions about BRCA and found my blog online.
So, on the one month countdown to my mastectomy, here’s a reminder why considering genetic testing is important.
Fitness Time
Tomorrow will be t-minus 1 month til’ my mastectomy, so I really need to get things in order. Soooo, I’m starting to work out almost daily. My hubby and I consider this a very important part of the surgery prep, since being in shape helps promote blood flow and better recovery. I’m going to work on my core (since I won’t be able to use my arms to get in and out of bed), arm strength, and oxygenation. Hopefully this will all help me out when I can’t lift my arms after surgery (aka t-rex arms).
Funky Genes 