Guest blogger, Carol Dunlop is certified through FiTour as a Personal Trainer and through the American Red Cross as a CPR, AED and First Aid Instructor. She has competed and placed in several Fitness America and National Bodybuilding competitions. Carol was diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer of 2011 and she is sharing her story of survival at DietsInReview.com. Check out her website, OptimumBodySculpting.com.
Weeks, days, and hours. My time is relegated to watching my calendar intently for the next procedure, appointment, lab work or medicine dose. As I have said before, I was healthy and could go months without seeing a doctor. Now, if I go a week without seeing one, something is definitely off. Not only are there doctor’s appointments for them to basically look you over and make recommendations, there are lab trips for blood draws and tests and procedures and shots. It can all be so overwhelming, if you let it.
I am getting through it by taking one day, one procedure, one medication at a time. Once I’m finished with the last dosage, I am looking ahead to what’s next. Then, I stop. I can’t allow myself to go any farther. Going farther just overwhelms me and causes me to feel anxious and powerless. When it’s just one thing on my plate at a time, I have the power.
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Guest blogger, Carol Dunlop is certified through FiTour as a Personal Trainer and through the American Red Cross as a CPR, AED and First Aid Instructor. She has competed and placed in several Fitness America and National Bodybuilding competitions. Carol was diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer of 2011 and she is sharing her story of survival at DietsInReview.com. Check out her website, OptimumBodySculpting.com.
Having watched the movie “Five” on Lifetime TV that depicts five different breast cancer stories and the impact that this disease has on everyone, including those around you, I have come to the conclusion that this disease isn’t “it” for me. I probably won’t know what “it” will be, but breast cancer will NOT cause my demise.
The movie starts with the story of a little girl wondering why her mom is in her room and wanting to know why all those people are in her home. It’s set in 1969, at a time when children were seen and not heard and neither were they told anything about “grown-up stuff” apparently. My heart went out to that child and I couldn’t imagine having my daughter in such a confused state when there was something obviously wrong with me.
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Guest blogger, Carol Dunlop is certified through FiTour as a Personal Trainer and through the American Red Cross as a CPR, AED and First Aid Instructor. She has competed and placed in several Fitness America and National Bodybuilding competitions. Carol was diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer of 2011 and she is sharing her story of survival at DietsInReview.com. Check out her website, OptimumBodySculpting.com.
In 2006, Grammy Award-winning recording artist India.Arie released I Am Not My Hair as a type of ode to women, especially women of color, to our hair and the many ways we wear it and fret over it. I am certain that most women fret over their hair and agonize over what it will and won’t do, even when it looks the most beautiful. So, I’m sure that you can imagine the uncertainty that I felt when my doctor informed me that I would definitely lose my hair as a result of my chemo treatments.
I waited until I was certain that my hair was actually coming out. When I could feel the clumps in my hand, I knew it was time! My sweet soulmate and husband actually cut and shaved it off for me. There was actually no better, more sweeter or honest and intimate thing for him to do than that. I felt so close to him for sharing that moment with me. I will never forget it and always remember that special time.
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Guest blogger, Carol Dunlop is certified through FiTour as a Personal Trainer and through the American Red Cross as a CPR, AED and First Aid Instructor. She has competed and placed in several Fitness America and National Bodybuilding competitions. To receive your Free E-course “How to Burn Calories While you Sleep,” check out her website, OptimumBodySculpting.com.
If you missed Carol’s first installment in this series documenting her journey through her battle with breast cancer, you can read more about her moving story here: Reflections on My Fight with Breast Cancer.
One of the worst things about this whole breast cancer journey is the waiting. It seems that I’m always waiting for something:
Sometimes, it’s just so much, you feel as though you can’t go through one more waiting period for anything. But, then you do it and you move on to the next waiting period for… whatever.
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Guest blogger, Carol Dunlop is certified through FiTour as a Personal Trainer and through the American Red Cross as a CPR, AED and First Aid Instructor. She has competed and placed in several Fitness America and National Bodybuilding competitions. To receive your Free E-course “How to Burn Calories While you Sleep,” check out her website, OptimumBodySculpting.com.
It’s been over a month since I heard the word “cancerous” in connection with myself. It feels better to know that all the cancer that the doctors could see is now gone. They told me the operation was the first part and depending on the size of the tumor, chemotherapy would be the second part, if it was needed. Immediately, I put all the “ifs” out of my mind and stopped worrying about getting or not getting chemo and my reaction to it, until I needed to deal with it, as a factor.
Compartmentalizing the whole process, at each step, has helped me get through this. I’ve learned that women can do that! Ha! I did it and it has worked well for me.
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