Excerpt from Make Room for Healing by Travis Brady
Excerpt from Make Room for Healing by Travis Brady I’m sorry you’re holding this book. Seriously. It sucks that you or someone you love has breast cancer. The good news? You’re not alone. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. It is the second most common cancer in women. You may be saying to yourself, “Why is that good news?” Because it means that millions of research dollars and attention has been focused on treating this type of cancer. It also means that if caught early, breast cancer is not a death sentence. Hey there, I’m Travis Brady. A she/hers with large, dense breasts who is also a seven-year stage 3A ER+ PR+ breast cancer survivor. On one level, I never thought I’d make it this far from diagnosis. My cancer was aggressive. I had five lymph nodes involved. On another level, after my diagnosis, I set my sights on the age I wanted to die. Ninety-two. I was 46 during treatment and figured, “I’m halfway through my life, time to live another forty-six.” Fingers crossed. My intention in creating this guide is to help make treatment easier. While I was going through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, I scoured my friends and their friends, and friend and friends of their friends for those who had been treated before me. I needed these women to give tips on what would make this laborious process smoother, gentler, more manageable. Even though I was 46, I had a three-year-old at home and knew I needed help. This guide offers you all the help I got. My hope is that you’ll take what resonates and leave the rest. Maybe you’ll even find your own treatment hacks and send them to me ([email protected]) so I can share them with others. Treatment is hard. I’m not going to lie. But having these tips and practices helped me feel a bit more in control in an uncontrollable situation. The thoughtful organization of the book is meant to sequentially walk with you through treatment. The first section, Support, offers things to think about first: conscious steps that if taken now will make the journey smoother. The next section, Prepare, offers items and practices that helped me physically cope. In Nourish, I give you a shortcut to the nutritional practices that supported my body. Heal takes you through things you may not have considered but might be open to now. Lastly, Enjoy is asking you to cultivate experiences where you derive great enjoyment. All of it is meant to support you. Before I started my treatment, I spoke to an oncologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital. It was before my treatment at Duke University and UNC Hospitals. He said something then that I want to pass on to you now. He said, “Travis, you have to make room for treatment.” He knew by speaking with me for just a few minutes I was trying to systematically plan each step like a project at work. That was not going to do. I heeded his advice allowing myself the time and space to check-in every day to see how I felt. To see what I needed and how to support myself. The key to all of this was asking for help and getting answers. I’ve put all that I learned and experienced in this guide. My hope is that it helps you on your journey.
Excerpt from Make Room for Healing by Travis Brady Read More »