My Boobiversary

2007 was a really bad year, from start to finish and being diagnosed with breast cancer smack in the middle of it was the coupe de grace. I struggled and I fought. I lost both my hair and my job. I gained both weight and knowledge. I was never the same - and that's ok, Jenn 2.0 is so much better than the original. I commemorate two cancerversarys from that year; the date of my diagnosis and the date I was told I was cancer-free. Both important in their own ways and both remind me to breath, live, love, and laugh - because it can all be snatched away in a moment.

2012 was different and I was in a very different place. Having just published my book, Does This Outfit Make Me Look Bald? I was immersed in the survivor culture. I began to believe my mission in this life is to continue to give hope, my time, and perhaps a laugh or two to newly diagnosed women. I came through the fire, I survived the battle. I won the war, right? Nope. That year, in October, I was told I had to do the cancer dance again.

Fuck.

I know the date but I refuse to acknowledge it - because hearing I had cancer a second time was just horrifying.

In all this hot cancer mess there is a date that I do commemorate and in a weird way celebrate, November 8th 2012. The day I had my double mastectomy and the day I hope I finally slayed the beast. It's the day I took my life back; my boobiversary.

So this Saturday I will cook a nice meal, pop open a bottle of prosecco and toast my counterfeit tits. I will be in full-on badass mode. I may even get a tattoo (it wouldn't be the first time).

In this journey of so many dark days we have to find the glimmer of hope. We must celebrate ourselves. We've been given the opportunity to fight. Cancer isn't a gift but life is - unwrap it.