Cancer is a physically demanding disease, but the mental health component should not be underestimated. From the testing to the diagnosis through the treatments and living a life post-active cancer, thoughts and emotions are in a tailspin. Months ago I shared a post about how my faith was helping to get me through. I won’t […] Read more…
The radiation phase of my breast cancer treatment is officially behind me! First, a recap from Instagram: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kate Winn (@katethismomloves) The 20 sessions (16 to the full area and 4 “boosts” to the area of the tumour) went by fairly quickly and pretty uneventfully […] Read more…
When someone we care about is going through a challenge like cancer, we want to do something (thus the oft-offered: “let me know if there’s anything I can do!”)….but what? I’ve said right from the start that the emails, texts and social media messages showing support are incredibly valuable, especially when there is no pressure […] Read more…
Since being diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2020, I’ve don a ton of reading and come across some interesting cancer controversies that I didn’t know much about before: battle terminology, pinkwashing and whether or not early detection saves lives. Since I’m no expert I’ll just share the broad strokes of each, along with my […] Read more…
Have I mentioned that I don’t like waiting? It’s been a while since I’ve shared an update because there has been nothing to share until now! One day this week I posted to Facebook to let everyone know how things were going, and here’s what I said: ********** Oh, the waiting is hard. I […] Read more…
Cancer treatment plans are very much tailored to each individual patient, so before I get to my personal plan (which follows the lumpectomy surgery I had in early December), I want to share some details about my cancer with you. First, let me introduce you to my tumour: invasive ductal carcinoma (80% of breast cancers […] Read more…
Recovery from my lumpectomy and lymph node removal has been really up and down, both physically and emotionally. I haven’t had any issues in terms of the breast surgery itself, but the area under my arm where the lymph nodes were removed has been a lot trickier, with numbness (I still can’t feel myself applying […] Read more…
On Monday I had surgery to remove the cancerous tumour in my breast and I’m sharing a recap of the day below. Sunday night I took a Lorazepam to help me sleep, and I was up at 6 a.m. the next morning to shower and head to the hospital. My husband dropped me at the […] Read more…
On November 24 when I received my date for surgery (coming up on Monday, December 7th) I was told to go home immediately and begin self-isolation! Well, I took a detour by the school so I could leave things set up for my replacement teacher, but since then I’ve been hanging out chez moi. (I […] Read more…
So strong. So brave. Wow, I kinda love that people see me this way. But let me be honest: it’s not always the case. And I sure don’t want other cancer patients or survivors to think that’s how they’re “supposed” to appear. I may be a royal-watcher but my upper lip is anything but stiff, […] Read more…