Life can resume after breast cancer. As a two-time survivor I can attest personally to that fact. Phil 4:13 states "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And I can. Below I share a portion of my strength-filled journey to breast cancer recovery.
Ever hear a kid whine, "I can't"-really meaning it-when asked to do something scary? Even slightly scary?
After diagnosis I didn't want to crash my own pity party and spoil it, but it was time to get real! Get real mad at God or get real charged up and off my duff. It was my choice entirely.
While I was recovering from my lumpectomy, my husband Jim came to my hospital room with a wrapped present. When I unraveled the glittery paper, a pair of in-line skates stared at me from the box with hopeful eyelets.
I couldn't believe it. "What am I supposed to do with these?" I wailed. "I have drains drooping from my side like suction bulbs hanging from a half-inflated air mattress. This is crazy!"
His retort? "Get with the program."
Yeah, right! He obviously was a big fan of breast cancer recovery.
After undergoing chemo and radiation, I developed a swelling condition called lymphedema in my left arm due to the surgery and radiation of lymph nodes under my arm. After I received treatment for this condition, I decided that my life-threatening illness and swollen arm were not going to bring me down. I generally exercised caution when hiking, gardening and jogging as a result of my lymphedema; however, as time slipped by, I decided to become more adventurous.
After my second encounter with cancer, our family took a whitewater rafting trip down a river in Costa Rica. Unlike another raft accompanying us, piloted by an investment banker from New York City, our family's raft of five hardy souls did not tip over. Our three sons rowed for all they were worth, being solicitous of their mother. A nighttime canopy tour in Costa Rica capped that memorable trip. Like one of the local howler monkeys I zipped along the cable line from tree to tree in utter darkness.
A year later I found myself river rafting again, this time in a motorized rig down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The trip was sponsored by a creation ministry to show the devastation caused by the worldwide flood in Noah's day. For me, the biggest highlight of this adventure was rope-climbing up a slippery rocky slope to view-and take a shower in-a beautiful waterfall hidden in a cave. Such a feat was a perfect example of breast cancer recovery at its best!
I continue to engage in lymphedema exercises, stretching, and weightlifting within limits. But I don't put my affected arm in the hot tub and I wear gloves when gardening. No sense asking for trouble. I do pay the piper after extreme exercise, but the exercise is worth the psychological boost to me. I have found in every case after heavy exercise that the swelling in my arm recedes like seawater in low tide if I self-manage it.
A few years after my recovery from the lumpectomy, I put into a yard sale those in-line skates that I had gotten from Jim in the hospital. But having a change of heart, and at the last "a-ha" moment, I rescued them from the merchandise pile. Trying them out in my driveway and a local park was fun-and I am still skating. I also downhill ski, climb some hills (such as Mt. Sinai on my trip to the Holy Land), do light gardening to my heart's content, hot-tub it, do housework, and on and on. I attend a fitness center three days a week to work out. Now when a doctor says I can't do something, I view that as a challenge, to try to prove the physician wrong.
Muscleman is a Internet Health Advisor, compiled numerous success stories of cancers survivors. You can go http://tinyurl.com/mkcrph to get your Natural Cancer Treatments ebook now.
Article Source: Breast Cancer - Breast Cancer Recovery
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