(Originally written August 2, 2025) I went to the beach this morning to reflect on my 12th cancer-free anniversary and my ongoing healing journey. It was a beautiful day—barely a cloud in the sky, a perfect breeze, and clear, calm water. The perfect opportunity for healing: lots of vitamin D, fresh air, grounding, negative ions, and mineral-rich salt water. As a lifelong Floridian, my beach walks always involve the search for perfect shells and sharks’ teeth. Today, there was

Next month marks 11 years since my breast cancer diagnosis. While I am grateful to be cancer-free for this long, the journey has been...

Suppose you've been cancer-free for ten years and recently received a diagnosis of Hashimoto's disease. Despite leading a mostly healthy...

Three months have passed since I first received my diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that causes your body to attack the thyroid. Although the standard of care is to treat this with thyroid medicine, I knew I needed to find out what was causing my body to create antibodies that attack my thyroid. Finding and fixing the root cause(s) of health issues is the goal of integrative and functional wellness. That’s not to say that medicine won’t be necessary

What can we do to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Honoring those whom the disease has touched by donating, walking, and...

Thinking back on my “re-birthday,” the day I woke up from surgery cancer-free, involves a lot of emotions. Gratitude is at the top of the...

Ten years cancer-free is a huge milestone. One to be celebrated. After all, I have been proactive, trying to keep my risk of recurrence...

Today marks ten years of being cancer-free, and I wanted to share a column I originally wrote for the  Beacon Magazine  in 2013. It’s...

I started this blog in 2013 while going through breast cancer. It was a short-lived journal to document my “Journey back to good.” Ten...

On June 30, 2013 (only 10 days after my initial breast cancer diagnosis), I went to see an oncologist. To say I walked out of there...

Cancer is a word, not a sentence!  <-- Click on this link to see the original artwork by Theartsatichipter! I love this saying because...

Coming to terms with the battle I have fought over the past 5 months, sometimes gets overwhelming. But I do not regret for one second, my...

October is well known for being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In years past I have always posted the pink ribbons in support for those...

July 8, 2013 – The waiting was killing me. When will they set the date for surgery? Will it be next week? Am I prepared? I finally get the call from Ilene at Dr. Shapiro's office. The surgery was scheduled for July 30th at 8am. July 30th? That's three weeks away. Are you kidding me? Nope, July 30th. They not only needed to coordinate their schedules, it was the middle of summer, which meant vacations. And the kicker is I had my pre-op appointment with Dr. Vinas the fol

Regret serves no purpose and it certainly does not help the healing process in any way. I just sometime can't help but wonder how much...

It's been almost exactly 5 months since my mammogram and ultrasound that discovered my tumor and a little over 3 months since my surgery....

July 31, 2013 - It was nice to be home and be all done with the hospital. Although I was sore, I just couldn't sit still. I moved slowly,...

My surgery went well. Between my surgeon and plastic surgeon it only took 4 hours instead of the estimated 5 hours I was originally told....

July 30, 2013 – After 3 long weeks, the day of surgery finally was here! Surprisingly I found myself calm and at peace. All those prayers...

July 2, 2013 – After a lot of research, talking to doctors and prayer, I knew in my heart that a lumpectomy was not what I wanted. If I...