The Savvy Survivor

When I started The Savvy Survivor, on February 14, 2013, I had every intention of sharing my journey with you; I wanted to show whomever was watching that they could survive an incurable disease, beyond their doctor's prognosis. That was my plan, anyway. I feel that I have failed my mission. Throughout the years, I have survived; but I haven't taken care of myself as well as I should've been doing. I backslid into old eating habits, more times than I can count; to the point of almost being diagnosed with Diabetes. I have half a dozen new health issues to deal with, as I'm writing this to you; including being the reluctant owner of a peptic ulcer . There are two ways to get peptic ulcers; one is via H. pylori bacterial infection. The second is by way of overuse of NSAIDS ; this is how I got mine. I have been taking far too much Ibuprofen, more times a day than I should've been, to keep the pain of my breast cancer from spoiling my day. I will never take Ibuprofen, ag...

I haven't blogged in a rather long time (sorry!), because I've been taking care of life; but today, I feel the need to speak out about feelings. First, I want to say, it's ok to express your feelings. And it's perfectly alright to be sad, anxious or depressed, at this point in time. The entire world is sick; and we're all dealing with a lot, right now. But I didn't need to be shamed, for how I feel; and that happened, this morning. A Facebook page I'm a fan of asked how we were all dealing with the Easter holiday; and I answered them. Someone thought it was their duty to scold me for not being thankful that I have someone to spend the holiday with, even though my son can't be with me. I am thankful to have my daughter and grandchildren around; but I'm dying of a terminal illness, so having my son near me, as well, is a blessing! Not counting the holidays we lived through, in separate states; this is the first holiday I've had to endur...

I just celebrated my seven year Cancerversary, this month; I was elated, once I'd realized what day it was (July 3rd), after helping my daughter get the kids ready to go to daycare. I'm still here...I'm still alive!! But, I'm not where I want to be, in my journey. I have, unfortunately, lived my life giving up on myself; everything I do (including most hobbies), I simply dabble at, rather than making a commitment to something that will enrich my life. I always try...but never do.   Like Luke, I must unlearn what I have learned. Even during the l ast seven years, while fighting Metastatic Breast Cancer ; if you've been following me, for that long, you've seen me slide back into old, unhealthy habits. Habitual dabbling is a habit I formed, early in childhood; and one that I need to break. I don't want to die, any time soon! As a result of a lifetime of giving up on myself, I've developed (or I'm on the verge of developing) a number of fat...

My therapist said something, the other day, that turned on an interesting "light bulb" in my brain; I updated her on my current health concerns (recent diagnosis of high cholesterol), and what I had planned to do about it. And she told me that some people can manage just fine, with baby steps, while others need to go cold turkey. And then she asked me if I knew which one of those applied to me. I stopped smoking, over 15 years ago...by going cold turkey. When I lived in Knoxville, TN for a year (back in 2015), I began my vegetarian lifestyle....by going cold turkey. After I recovered from being paralyzed (while living in GA, back in 2016), I notice I started taking baby steps, back to healthy; and my health is getting worse, not better. I'm not good at baby steps. It seems that that particular approach gives me too much leeway, to drift back into old habits; and it's my old habits that are causing all these health issues! I have to be the one who goes cold tu...

I've been battling Stage 4 (metastatic) Breast Cancer for almost seven years; my cancerversary is in July. When I began this battle, I started calling it a journey; I’m in it for the long haul, come walk with me. Except I haven’t been walking the walk I was meant to walk. My journey has turned into the life of a sick woman who still believes she has forever to live. At the rate I’m going, I don’t have much time left...I’ve given myself high cholesterol and high triglycerides, on top of everything else. As it stands these are the things that are going wrong inside my body... breast cancer (terminal) arthritis osteoporosis cataracts high cholesterol/high triglycerides I had to explain my newest medical issue to my two very young grandchildren. It was pretty easy, after I told them that cholesterol is a goopy substance that your body is supposed to have, but I have too much; having too much goop inside of you, is very dangerous. This link will explain things to you, i...