Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I knew 1 in 8 were diagnosed with breast cancer, but this meant other people. Until I, too, became the 1 in 8. I was six months late for my mammogram, and those who know me will not find this shocking. So, I write this to remind women to get their mammograms. Several people are behind on cancer screenings, and accordingly cancer diagnosis is on the rise. With a Covid pandemic, many delayed screenings, did not have physicals and now they are facing the “C” word too. 

I was interviewed by a few television stations to talk about what made me write a book after my breast cancer journey. I wrote the book, because we plan for plan a, and sometimes land on plan f. I was the outlier, the plan f. Now, after 8 hospitalizations, and too many surgeries to count, I want to help others know how to advocate for their journey. The journey often has no one answer. Second opinions are a good thing. I also learned that healing was not just the physical scars. Hense the book is “the scars you can’t see”. Healing really started for me once I completed the last surgery. Then, and only then, could my mind, spiritual need, emotional needs and physical needs really connect. I could not deal with those items when I had anger, or wondered why me? I had to move past why me.... and change it to.... why NOT me? I had to get my mind to process the emotion and it took time. 

Writing was a way to release the emotion of betrayal, when you land on plan f. Writing was a way to grieve and find myself again. I felt like a shell of my former self so long, and my true happiness came when I released the pain of the trauma, and really found peace from true healing. Where you are today, is not your whole life, and this includes sadness and pain. I had to “un-stuck” myself and then life opened doors for me that I never knew possible.  

I found the new me. A me committed to living in a real way, not just going through the motions. Enjoying where I am at, wherever I am at. Faith, Family & Friends anchored me then and now. We have one fingerprint for a reason. One print. One life. Pre-orders for the book at www.nataliezeleznikar.com 

Let your light shine, 

Natalie