Breast cancer trauma has deeply impacted my sense of self-worth. It even caused me to stop writing...and I was born to write. I started this website in March 2012, with a blog post titled, "The Psychologist, The Mom, & Me."  I wrote prolifically about things inspired by my life as I worked with clients in my private practice, became a bestselling author & popular speaker, worked to raise my 6 young children, and learned who "I" was and was striving to become. I guess it's fitting that after a full decade of faithful writing, just over two years ..read more

We women are so good at caring for everyone else, but we're not so good at self-care. We hustle to maintain it all--family, work, home, health, goals, purpose, relationships--but the last thing we really need right now is more hustle. What we most likely really need as the New Year settles, routines are resumed, and goals, resolutions and 'words' for the year are well under way (or not), is less hustle and more self-care. Why a Self-Care Challenge? It's been a rough few years for almost everyone. I know I feel it, now 3.5 years into what I originally thought would be a 6 month breast cancer ..read more

The world is like a garden, a garden that’s been in a drought–dried out and withered! We’ve all endured so much for so long. It’s time we were “watered.” “Like a Watered Garden” is my brand new podcast…  It’s podcast to help you feel watered, replenished & ready to grow! Its purpose is to help you & me “overcome, become, and flourish” in mental-emotional-social-physical AND spiritual ways, so we may all feel “like a watered garden and a spring of water whose waters fail not.” It’s a verse from Isaiah, 58:11, and it brings to my mind the exact replenishment and sense of “ahhh” I th ..read more

"Dear Body, I once thought you were my enemy. Now I know BREAST CANCER is the enemy. And you?..." Imagine writing a letter to your body... What would it say? That's what I was asked to do as part of the BRCA Strong "Dear Body" photo shoot I flew across the country, last minute, to participate in, last month. It was a daunting task for me. You see, the photo shoot was held one day before my 2-year "cancerversary" since diagnosis, and 2 years to the day since my biopsy and that sinking, knowing feeling that, "Yes, this IS going to happen." And so began a whirlwind, or tidal wave (after tidal ..read more

"What does it mean to carry the BRCA gene mutation--for myself & my family?" 2 years ago today, I learned I carry the BRCA1 genetic mutation--10 days after I'd already been diagnosed with breast cancer, and 3 days after my double mastectomy. I knew I was at risk--my mother is a 3-time breast cancer survivor--but somehow, I never thought it would happen to ME.  So sick from chemotherapy, smiling through the suffering, wishing I could make a difference in the world again. Until it did.  Cancer. Mastectomy. Chemotherapy. And 13 total surgeries these past 2 years, all because of ..read more

I've spent the last 24 months of my life dealing with breast cancer, and the last 12 months dealing with breast cancer AND Covid. And I have come to see that COVID has shown us all a little of what it's like to have cancer. It seems unfair anyone should have to know something of what it feels like to go through cancer if they're healthy and NOT diagnosed with cancer. After all, in the past two years, I've been through a double mastectomy, DIEP Flap reconstruction, hysterectomy, and 13 total surgeries; I've been through chemo and cold-capping to save my hair, and I've been diagnosed with the B ..read more

Know Your #MomGenes: My BRCA Gene Testing Story I’ve just undergone my 7th surgery in 9 months. My body has had it, and I’m thinking about how this cancer could’ve been prevented if I had known I was #brca1 positive before.  Immediately following my double mastectomy with expander placement. So sore. So out of it. My chest feeling empty and like rocks are filling it at the same time. Learning You Have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 Gene Mutation I didn’t find out I had the BRCA1 gene mutation until 2 weeks after I was diagnosed, one week after I had already had a double mastectomy.  Even th ..read more

Little did I know I would become so well-versed in the various breast reconstruction options. It seemed straighforward, if not overwhelming, at the start: breast cancer diagnosis, immediate double mastectomy with expander placement, followed by exchange to implants 2 months later. But things didn't go as planned, and I was definitely not prepared for the long and painful road I would have to take to get to where I wanted to be with breast reconstruction. Sleeping after my double mastectomy with expander placement, July 24, 2019, Pioneer Day. Today is Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA ..read more

October is breast cancer awareness month, & today, Oct 10, is World Mental Health Day; it’s also one year since I started chemotherapy to beat triple negative, or the most aggressive type of, breast cancer. It's the perfect day to talk about the vast differences between how we support cancer warriors and how we support (or fail to support) mental illness warriors. One year ago today, starting chemotherapy, cold-capping to save my hair, looking brave, hiding the incredible fear inside. I Am the FACE of DEPRESSION (& ANXIETY) In December 2014 I wrote a post titled, “I am the FACE of ..read more

I posted this picture one year ago with the following words: August 8, 2019, keynote speaker at AZ Perinatal Trust conference, Day 15 post-double mastectomy. "You Can't Tell By Looking." "August 8, 2019, Post-#DoubleMastectomy Day 15: You’ll think I’m crazy...& I’ll think you’re right. ...' "Yes. This is a picture of me, today. I dressed up & left the house for the first time in weeks to speak at a conference across town. I agreed, after surgery, to still do it, figuring it was in town and I’d only be speaking for 20 min & hoping I would be strong enough by today.' "I woke fee ..read more