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| My darling sister and I on Abbot Kinney in Venice shortly after I was diagnosed with cancer. |
AN INTRODUCTION
When my little sister traveled to Southeast Asia for her second-year law school internship, she started a hilarious and insightful blog chronicling her travel, food, and cultural adventures. Not long after, my mom started her own blog detailing the best parts of her life with my dad, including their travels, cooking and jamming (i.e., preserving) exploits, and visits with family and friends.At my mom's urging, I am now starting my own blog. There probably won't be a better time in my life to do this, as I am midway through my recovery from and ongoing treatment for breast cancer. I received my diagnosis on December 4, 2014, spent about a month going through countless blood tests, ultrasounds, scans, and fertility treatment, and started chemotherapy on January 6, 2015. I stopped working in March of this year because the side effects of chemotherapy made it difficult to work, and I am still recovering from a bilateral mastectomy. As a friend recently pointed out, one happy result is that for me, every day is a Saturday. In other words, a good time for a blog.
Why didn't I start this blog sooner? To say I found it difficult to talk about my diagnosis and treatment over the past eight months would be an understatement. I have never had a "why me" attitude about my diagnosis, but I remember calling my mom in tears throughout my treatment when the unfairness of it all was suffocating. For example, when the first surgeon I met with told me I would lose my hair during chemotherapy. And when another surgeon told me there was a good chance I would never be able to have children as a result of chemotherapy. When I was feeling especially nauseous; spending hours of each day in a bathroom; experiencing migraines; losing my hair; losing my nails. I couldn't talk about life with cancer, and definitely couldn't write about it.
Things are getting easier now. I've had time to deal with the trials and tribulations of cancer. And my treatment worked: I had a complete pathological response to chemotherapy. My bilateral mastectomy was successful. I'm still undergoing treatment for cancer, but it's easier than the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach I was undergoing previously, in my doctor's words. A good time for a blog.
MY PURPOSE
My mom is a woman with strong opinions and ideas, and her inspiration for my blog (her inspiration for my blog) was the cooking, baking, and fermenting I've been filling my days with since I stopped working. Ostensibly then, this blog supplements my Instagram account, where I post pictures of my cooking accomplishments (when I remember to) and my cat, Izzy (and sometimes her sister, Olive).
But as my mom and sister and every other blogger ever have pointed out, it's difficult to know the true nature of one's blog until you actually write.
We'll see where this one goes.
