I'm PUBLISHED!!

I am sooooo excited. I am officially "published". YAY! A massive thank you to Jess for making the article happen. Kinda ironic that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

What's next? World Domination.. one newspaper article at a time. Mwoahhahahaaaa Mwohahahahahaa!

Here's a copy of the article I wrote:

“The Perspective Bat”

I call the day I was given my cancer diagnosis, the day I was hit with “The Perspective Bat”. Being 32 years old didn’t make the news any easier. I honestly thought Breast Cancer only applied to women over 40. That it would never happen to me. Well, the battle I’ve fought and subsequently won over the last 9 months has taught me a scary but valuable lesson. Cancer doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care if you are a good person, a mother, a child, a teacher or a lawyer. It doesn’t care what you do, if you donate to charity or rescue orphaned animals. It can affect all of us, so we must be smart and diligent, doing everything we can to keep this disease at bay.

Cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence anymore. In fact I prefer to think of it as a ‘Life Sentence’. The journey becomes an opportunity to reflect, re-shape, re-connect and re-evaluate. I certainly wished many times over the last year that I had worked out a little more (and perhaps consumed a little less wine) but at the end of the day listening to your body and getting checked are the most important things we can do. Early detection saves lives, it’s a simple fact. I know, because it saved mine.

Despite being scared, questioning why, and the occasional moments of despair, so much good has come out of my battle this year. Facing mortality at a young age has enabled me to make necessary changes to my life, to ensure the rest of it is a good and long one.

Chemotherapy makes you re-evaluate things you once considered important. I liked having long hair, it made me feel.. well… like me! Once it was gone, I became a naked version of myself. But like a phoenix rising through the ashes, I feel reborn with my new hair, albeit it a little fuzzier version of itself. Vanity became redundant once I saw myself looking like the Dalai Lama. It just wasn’t important anymore. Friends, family, unconditional support and lots of laughter, these are the important things that truly get us through life’s adversities.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and is poignant to me for several reasons. Firstly because it’s the month where the disease, that could have taken my life, is brought to the forefront of all of our minds. It’s the month I came home to my incredibly supportive and wonderful friends, here in Wanaka. It’s the month I was told I am officially in remission and the month of my birthday, that I will celebrate with more fervour than ever before.. but with a little less wine… maybe….