My "New Normal"

I went to the retreat in Park City this weekend put on by the Image Reborn Foundation.  What an amazing opportunity to meet and bond with 10 other women from all over the country who have been through what I've been through!  I felt like I was 14 again, staying up ridiculously late chatting and laughing my guts out!  Sheila and Donna from Image Reborn pampered us and made us feel so special.  The first thing Donna said to us was, "OK, let's go over the ground rules.  You aren't to lift a finger the entire weekend!"  That was the only rule.

We had speakers (as well as massage therapists and the 'facial' ladies) come in and talk to us all three days.  One of them helped me to see that my "new normal" is what I am/what I look like right now.  It's OK to be where I am, with a bald head and lots of scars. I have struggled a little bit because of that. I've just wanted to feel and look "normal" again. But it's all good.  I can't change the last 7 months, in fact, I wouldn't!!!  I know that this is part of my life's journey that needed to happen because I needed to learn.  I've learned so many things I would never have been able to without breast cancer.  I have come to peace with that. 

McKinley had her first birthday last Friday!  I remember thinking early on that I would be finished with the hard stuff when her birthday rolled around, and it felt like the day would never come.  It feels good to be here!  Happy Birthday McKinley!