Holidays & healing wounds

Bravo is ready for the holiday season because it brings special gifts in his ‘magic sock’ and ample servings of ReddiWhip.

The Amazon boxes are stacking up by the front door.

The Christmas tree needles are being tracked through the house.

I’ve visited the post office twice this week to send off festive cards.

And, I’m recovering from cleaning up the hellscape that is our basement.

This all means the holidays are upon us and I’m complaining about all sorts of pains in my ass. (Seriously, I spent several hours earlier this week moving heavy cardboard boxes into our crawl space, bent over for much of that time. I may never walk upright again and I’m not sure my glutes will ever stop singing.)

The holidays are a stressful time for everyone.

For my family, we’ve actually got it pretty easy. My husband will be home from work travel. I will have time away from my stay-at-home editing job. Our dog, Bravo, will enjoy seasonal treats of ReddiWhip … His most guilty of pleasures.

It’s not a Norman Rockwell setting but it’s pretty darn fortunate. We are lucky.

Just a few years ago, I was finishing chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer 2.0. I was bald. Had little energy. Nauseous. Downright sick.

When I think back to those days, I don’t remember the Christmas tree or the presents I received. Instead, I think about breathing heavily each time I climbed the stairs in our house and worrying about the damage done to my body by the potent drugs administered in three short months.

This week, cancer researchers and advocates are meeting for the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Several people I follow on Twitter have been live Tweeting the sessions and sharing news about developments in treating this disease.

It’s been interesting to read about everything from heart disease brought on by chemotherapy drugs to the risk factors of alcohol use and a breast cancer diagnosis.

You can learn more about the conference and presenters here: sabcs.org/2018-SABCS-sup-sup

Karuna Jaggar, executive director of Breast Cancer Action, has been Tweeting about the sessions she attends. If you follow her on Twitter, @karunajaggar, you can look back at all the action she has seen. She’s been very comprehensive in providing information for people who did not attend. I’m grateful for her hard work.

That said, I’m also grateful to be having a holiday season more normal than a few years ago. Aches and pains aside.

I don’t know that I’ll ever be fully healed from my time with breast cancer. Time heals all wounds, we’re told.

I guess I’d prefer to have not been wounded in the first place.