“Radical acceptance” to deal with breast cancer and the fear of recurrence. After having experienced a diagnosis of breast cancer, and the whirlwind of treatment that ensues, many of us are left suffering with PTSD, depression and anxiety. Radical acceptance teaches you to understand and manage these normal but sometimes …
Planning your pregnancy after breast cancer. More and more women under the age of 45 are being diagnosed with breast cancer. Alarmingly the percentage of all breast cancers that occur in younger women has increased from 5% to 9% in just the past 5 years. The possible reasons for this …
Pregnancy after breast cancer; my story. I was diagnosed with stage 2b triple negative breast cancer in April of 2019 when I was 35 years old. At the time my only child, my daughter Ayla, had just turned 6 months old. 3 years later, at age 38, I was blessed …
When you are first diagnosed with breast cancer your life immediately changes in a thousand ways. Some of those changes are huge and blatant. Some are subtle and almost imperceptible. One unexpected and unwelcome shift that happens is the language people use towards you. You start consistently hearing words like …
Chemotherapy; my top lifestyle and self care tips for staying physically strong and nurturing your mental well being throughout. So we all know that chemotherapy isn’t really a spa treatment. But with breast cancer being the most common cancer among women, around 1 in 8 of us will experience …
Breast cancer; answering the questions I had at the time of my diagnosis. An honest chat with myself now the seas are calmer. When you are first diagnosed with breast cancer, the first thing that hits you is, unsurprisingly, a wave of intense fear. Shortly after that, perhaps even as …
When life and death run side by side; losing one of a set of twins. Coming up to 3 years ago, I lost one of my twins, my son Archie, 2 weeks before I gave birth to him and his healthy sister Ayla. He had a rare and severe genetic …
Having children changes everything about your life, and your relationship is no exception. One day you’re doe eyed and full of devotion, skipping through fields holding hands with your heads thrown back in laughter. Kind of. Next thing you know you haven’t slept in months and are fighting over whose …
I recently decided to make a keepsake box for my daughter. Somewhere to keep all of those little treasures gathered during her life so far that have poignant meaning. It’s so easy in the fast moving pace of modern life to forget things. Even precious little things that meant so …
Becoming a mother is the best thing that has ever happened to me. My daughter brings me a joy and satisfaction that I’ve never experienced before. Being her mum has made me want to be a better person. But as much as parenting is immensely fulfilling, it is also overwhelming …
At the end of winter of 2019 I found out I had triple negative breast cancer. I was a young new mother and completely terrified. Fast forward to today and I am healthy, have an amazing thriving two and a half year old and am planning my wedding with my …
They say “it takes a village to raise a child”. This ancient African proverb stems from the ideal of a child being raised by a large extended family and community. It advocates the importance of the involvement of many different people in a child’s upbringing. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins …