Welcome! This is an introduction to me... before FND.
I wouldn’t necessarily say I have had an unadventurous life. I have had my share of curveballs thrown my way in life, and have dealt with problems - some mole hills, some mountains. Some may say that I have had more than my fair share of problems, but whose definition of 'fair' are we going by? Who hasn’t had problems in life? We all have a story. I have done my best to deal with life's curveballs as they have arrived. But those are stories for another day. This particular adventure, we will begin in 2020.
In 2020, I was just graduating from college, I was turning the big 4-0, I was restless (as was most everyone else was after COVID). I was confident and was ready to start making a difference in this world. My day began with a 2+ mile walk on the beach to watch the sunrise - my 5 sensory rejuvenation to start the day off right! When I wasn’t working (I have been known to be a bit of a workaholic), I was always busy doing something - cooking, cleaning, gardening, going to explore different parks and finding ‘hidden gems’. To sum it up, I was very active. In my opinion, I was a strong, independent woman who loved to laugh and make others laugh, known for my caring nature (I am called “Momma Kim” sometimes) and positive energy.
Then, in Sep. 2021,… BOOM: I was thrown one of life’s curveballs. I was hit with that dreaded ‘C’ word - cancer - I had breast cancer. After getting over the shock (which, of course followed the ‘no way, not me - check again, are you sure?’ phase), and after getting through the feeling sorry for myself stage (why me?) I picked myself up, knocked the dust off of me and straightened my crown, and put on my boxing gloves, ready to fight. I told myself that I was going to fight it, and beat it, whatever it took. So I went through chemo and radiation, as recommended.
Chemo is not fun for anyone. I will not go into too many details (one of those stories for another day), but we will just say that my body and the chemo medications did not agree with each other and were in a constant daily battle, and I felt like I was just along for the ride (and it was NOT a fun ride, let me tell you). Among other things, I was constantly experiencing episodes of fainting throughout the day (which came with a lot of falls), I had severe migraines, I couldn’t eat or hold food down… I was even seeing some unwanted changes in my personality. The doctors pretty much chalked it up to the effects of the medicines.
When I finished cancer treatment in the summer of 2022, I cannot tell you the relief I felt. Not only was I deemed to be in remission, but this meant I was on my way to real recovery and getting back to myself, my life, and my goals. I even counted down the last weeks of treatment by popping balloons (thank you to my nephew for the brilliant idea) after each one that I completed, if that tells you how excited I was. Gradually, my symptoms effected me less and less, and I eventually got to the point where I was ‘only’ having a ‘bad day’ once or twice every few weeks or so. I was able to get back to work part time, start doing some basic workouts and go on short walks, I was able to cook again (hooray!)... the simple pleasures in life! I was slowly getting back into my normal routine, and I assumed that the symptoms would eventually go away altogether. I was anxious to get back to my morning sunrise walks, back to working full time, and back to focusing on my goals since I had finally knocked THAT curveball out of the park!
Or so I had thought....
Continued on The Introduction to My FND Journey...
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