Female in Motion

(The following post originally aired on October 28, 2013. Today is the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.) God gave me beautiful jewels during my cancer journey. My breast cancer journey is almost at a close. In the last year and a half, God gave me some precious gifts. I thought I would just bear down, and tough out this cancer battle, instead I have found delicate and multi-faceted jewels placed in my path. Rest: I didn't ever sit and get quiet until I was forced to with cancer. Seems like I always had something to do, or somewhere to be. Now, I have to schedule in those quiet times to relax my mind and gather my senses. Prayer: I've always considered myself a prayer person, but I really became a warrior during my cancer journey. Not how you think, though. I was praying for others , not myself. There are so many around us that are suffering. Achieving a deeper level of worship and prayer makes me hungry for more. Humility: I realized earl...

(This post originally published on October 1, 2012, during the time I was receiving treatment for breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.) A week from today, I will return to Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion, IL, and if all goes well, I will begin my chemotherapy treatment. Within a few days after that, I will lose all my hair. It won't all fall out at once, but when it starts to get sparse, I'm going to shave it off. And I'm okay with that. My body image has not always been so great. When I was a teenager, I had a lot of self-loathing. I thought my legs were so fat, at 105 pounds, that I refused to wear shorts during the summer. Even in my 20's, after my first brush with cancer, I covered the large scar on my right arm on the hottest July days in Kansas. I am 50 years old now, and overweight, scarred, stretch marked, gray haired and wrinkled. Losing weight, gaining weight, short haired or long haired, I am still me. With ...

(I am showing a few "re-runs" this month, in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This post originally ran on October 14, 2013.) Female in Motion at the Arkansas City Relay for Life 2013   John 10:10 (NKJV) The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. When my doctor told me I had breast cancer, I went into battle mode, full force. The Hubster and I prayed about it, then got a plan together. I went from doctor to doctor, hospital to hospital, until I found the best fit for me. Here's the interesting part...I kept right on with my life. I still worked, grocery shopped, did my laundry and paid my bills. Cancer was part of my life, but it didn't take over. What are your circumstances? Is there something that makes you want to stop trying? I wish I could whisper this truth in your ear.           ...

  (This is a rerun from March 12, 2012, when I had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.) I got my hair cut last week. Funny thing about cancer. Your life doesn't stop. You get up, go to work, clean your house and grocery shop. When you're sitting in the doctor's office and in the quiet puddles of midnight, that's the time when cancer is real and dangerous. While shampooing my hair, my stylist recounted the tale of her son's bicycle accident, which sent him to the emergency room (and sent his mother through the roof!). At the end of the story, she jokingly added, "Beat that!" And that's when I told her I had breast cancer. Boy, that's a conversation killer. Erica's eyes filled with tears. "No, no, not you!" she cried, as I hugged her tight. This is the ritual I go through every time I have to tell someone in my life that I have breast cancer. The hardest people to...