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My “New Normal”

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I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago and she said something that didn’t quite sit right with me.


In a sentence or two she made the insinuation that I was “unhealthy“ or “sickly“. That’s certainly not the case at all. 


At the same time there are many people, mostly family, that think that after cancer treatment my life went back to what it was before. That’s not the case, either.


When someone doesn’t understand a certain disease though, I can see  why they would think the way they do. 


I survived breast cancer in 2012. I am in remission. I take a maintenance therapy to make sure I stay in remission. I have three years left of that treatment.


As a result of treatment however, there were side effects and conditions that changed me physically and emotionally that I have had to accept and make adjustments with. Nothing went back to “normal”. 


There are certain things I do not eat anymore or that I’m careful with due to being estrogen receptor+. The strength in my right arm is half of what it used to be due to lymph nodes being removed and the radiation that took place on that right side. I take measures to prevent lymphedema in my right arm and shoulder. There are times I have bouts with neuropathy in my hands and feet due to nerve damage from chemotherapy. Arthritis and fibromyalgia kick my butt sometimes but I fight back ... hard. I battle depression on a daily basis. My breasts do not look or feel the same that they did prior to breast cancer. The right breast is extremely sensitive and always sore. 


I could go on and on and on about these things but it does not mean that I am unhealthy or sickly. I wake up to these things every morning and I’m okay with it because it’s my “new normal”. I don’t even remember what my life was like before this. 


I am more careful about how I take care of myself these days and live my life from a different perspective now. 


There once was a time I was frightened, insecure and very fragile. Today I am the total opposite of that; I’m brave, confident and very strong.


I claim all of these victories; my “new normal”, in Jesus name!


 

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