aLive @ Stage 4!

When you're young, you think you're going to live forever.  "You have your whole life ahead of you!"  "You have all the time in the world!"  "I've got plenty of time for that!"  There comes a time, though, that these statements cease being true.  For me, that was almost five years ago; the day I was told that I have metastatic breast cancer.  I walked out of the doctor's office in shock. When I was diagnosed, I thought that death was imminent.  According to   The American Cancer Society , a person with metastatic breast cancer has a 27% chance of surviving five years.  According to  Metavivor , the median life span of a metastatic breast cancer patient is about three years.  So you see why I freaked out a little.  I thought my life was literally over.  In my mind, I visited the local funeral home to pick out my casket.  My children were 13 and 17 years old.  I wanted to live to see them graduate from high school (I have).  I wanted to

New year, same me, striving to become a stronger, better person. This is when I vowed to get in at least thirty minutes of some kind of exercise per day, really shooting for sixty minutes.  This will be, as for now, a combination of walking, either on the treadmill or outside in good weather; the recumbent bike at the gym; and weight training at the gym.  I'm working with Julie once per week now, and my goal is to get to the gym for weight training at least one other time by myself.  It's hard for me to do that; I don't know why.  I think after a few more times I'll feel more confident and get it done. January 1 -- As I had stayed in bed all day yesterday, I really wanted to get out and walk.  I've gotten to the point that I just don't feel right if I haven't done anything active during the day ... even on those days that I stay in bed all day.  So, during the warmest part of the day in the afternoon, I went for a walk around my neighborhood.  It las