Finding LIGHT in the darkness

Conquering STRESS HIVES

I am going to take a moment to stress that it’s important, not to stress. I
recently had a serious case of hives on my legs, arms, chest, and neck. It
was extremely miserable; the itch just wouldn’t go away. Nothing I took
made it better. I strongly believe that because I have gone through cancer
that none of the traditional medications worked. So, when I say miserable, I
mean for a about two weeks I had hardly any relief from the itch that
wouldn’t go away. Even itching didn’t make the itch go away!

I want to encourage you to avoid stress at all costs. Our immune systems
are not the way they used to be, and medicine doesn’t always work the way
it should.

How it began

I felt like I was managing my normal to-do list just fine, but something was
off; the stress just kept building and building. I recognized my gut kept
clenching. I kept telling myself that I would just get rid of one to-do task so I
could power through another one, but then another one was added to my
list before I could make much progress. Before I knew it my to-do list was
overflowing, and I felt like there wasn’t an end in sight or anyone to help.
My husband was out of the country for two weeks and I didn’t feel like I had
anyone to really lean on at home (we are a military family, away from
family). My stress got out of control, and I honestly didn’t realize how bad it
was or even consider that my body would break out in hives.
I didn’t realize it was from stress at first. I thought maybe it was a bug bite. I
had also tried a new laundry detergent a few months back, or maybe my
body was reacting to a new food allergy. I had no idea. I tried taking certain
foods out of my diet, and I went back to my old laundry detergent. Oh my
goodness, you name it, I tried everything.

Prescription Medication

As the situation worsened, I remembered when I had hives once before
and I was given a prescription that seemed to work, so I immediately went
to the doctor. Well, it didn’t work this time. Two days later it was still
spreading, so I went back to the doctor who gave me a stronger dose.
Nope, that didn’t work either. In fact, my arm actually began to swell and
throb with pain. I felt trapped. This huge stressor that was overwhelming
me was now getting much worse. I went to the ER, and they gave me an IV
of Prednisone and Benadryl. That helped with the itch for a few hours, but
the symptoms came rushing back when the medicine wore off.

Over the counter medications

Benadryl, Allegra, Zyrtec, calamine lotion, Benadryl cream, apple cider
vinegar, oatmeal bath, and hydrocortisone cream. ALMOST NOTHING
WORKED.
(Make sure to read how and when to take these medications together)

I am convinced that because the cause was stress, coupled with the fact
that my body reacts differently to certain medications, that the only thing
that worked was ice and Benadryl. These only provided temporary relief
though. Lasting relief only began to show when I dropped all my stress and
left town!! Seriously!! When my husband got back home, we went on a
family vacation. I took every stressful situation out of my life and walked
away; my body needed a restart. Getting a fresh perspective away from my
stress helped me see that I couldn’t do this all in my own strength. I would
need God’s help to get me all the way through this.

I am writing this to you today because during my own struggle with hives I
encountered many people that were also struggling with hives (MY HEART
BREAKS FOR YOU). It is crucially important that you understand your
body and mind are a temple and you need to nourish it, offer it rest, and
allow God to take your worries.
God is working for you, you just have to give your worries to Him
I am not even kidding; my worries began to get solved the moment I fell to
my knees and prayed to God. I couldn’t believe how trusting God was so

difficult in this situation, and how much I didn’t trust him to figure it out for
me. I tried so hard to figure it all out on my own, but it was not meant to be
done on my own. Now when I notice my gut clenching, I stop, and I pray!
Don’t let hives or anything else control you or take away your happiness.
Give it to God, God will help you find light in the darkness. Let me just say,
I was in a very dark place. I didn’t think relief from my stress and the misery
of hives was possible.

With God it’s possible.

Fight cancer with Exercise

Just because we have cancer that doesn’t mean we are weak, that our bodies are falling apart.

Your story is not over!!

 It is more important than ever to exercise and eat right. We are about to fight a battle and we must be physically and mentally ready. Physical exercise will improve how you feel significantly.  This will allow you the strength mentally and physically to fight! Believe it or not but it will help you stay positive and motivated.

Staying positive

It is so important that you stay positive throughout this journey, this will help you fight and survive this!  Life should not stop because you have cancer, personally I decided I was going to be stronger than my circumstances. Staying active and planning different outings is truly important. It helps you focus on the life you want to fight for and offer you a break from the battle you are about to fight.

Find someone to exercise with

Finding a friend to motivate you and keep you accountable is super important, because there will be days ahead that you may not want to get up and stay active. It is harder for us, because atter surgeries it will be harder to get motivated again. After chemo, it will be harder to have the energy.

Pray for strength and energy

I am not going to tell you staying active during this process is easy, I wouldn’t be being honest with you. The fatigue we feel is something we have never experienced before. Allow yourself to rest, this rest with give you the energy. Pray for energy, what I love so much about prayer and God answering prayers, is when I felt there was no way

Please don’t try to face this alone

Cancer is all we are thinking about now, isn’t it? When we wake up, when we sit down for a break, when we are watching our kids play. For the first time in my life, I felt completely and utterly helpless.

Losing Control of our lives

We often don’t think about what it would feel like to lose control of our own lives. At this moment, we feel our control is now completely gone.

We don’t have a choice, do we? To have cancer or not to have cancer! To have surgery, or not to have surgery. To go through chemo, or not to go through chemo. This is not fair!! Why me, why now! So many questions, so few answers. Even if there were answers, it wouldn’t change the sinking feeling we are experiencing.

Finding LIGHT in the darkness

I am here to tell you, there is hope, I am glad that I had family and friends to support me through this because my brain completely shut down. I was frozen and unable to think or process much of anything. It is time to lean on those who want to help.

Lean on others

Lean on your family, close friends, join a group online, and if you don’t have a church family, I would sincerely say you may want to consider finding one. My church family loved and supported me through this very difficult time. Even individuals I never met made my family meals. Kind and loving people would never want you to go through this alone. Allow them into your life.

The people you allow into your cancer journey want you to lean on them, they want you to ask for help, cooking your dinner, buying you dinner, watching your kids, cleaning your house, driving you to appointments, praying for you, doing your grocery shopping. I promise you; people want to help you. You don’t have to do this alone.

Lean on God

You may not believe in God, but you are welcome to read on, if not, that’s okay too.

God brought so many loving and compassionate souls into my life, to support me through this journey. My prayers were answered when I felt like it was an impossibility. Remember when I said I couldn’t breathe? God gave me peace in my situation, and I was able to breath again. Something I didn’t think was possible so soon after finding out I had cancer. So many times, when I prayed, and when I thought it was pointless or my prayers were too great to be answered, God answered these prayers. No, he didn’t answer all prayers that I prayed, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t love or care about me, it just meant he knew I was strong enough, he made me strong enough. Don’t lose hope, there is light in the darkness, I found it and we can find yours together in this journey.

Galatians 6:2, NIV: Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

First and foremost, I want to express to you how sorry I am that you are
faced with such a scary diagnosis.

I am here to tell you; you are not alone and we
will get through this together. The key to fighting a powerful fight is having
those you love to support you and staying as positive as possible.

My first experience with cancer
was the POSSIBLITY
of getting cancer. I didn’t have cancer yet, however my cousin called me (on my
dad’s side) and informed me she got tested for the BRCA1 gene mutation. She proceeded to tell
me that she had the mutation and she was going to consider preventative measures
to try to prevent cancer.

Preventative Measures

This would include a double Mastectomy and hysterectomy’.

How I reacted

Let me tell you, I went into complete denial!! There is no way I could get
cancer!

I decided to talk to a genetic specialist. She told me exactly what I didn’t
want to hear. I was 30 years old, I had recently gotten married, and our kids
were very young. On a side note, I had also just gone through getting breast implants,
and for the first time in my life I felt comfortable in my own skin. She told
me I would have to go through with the mastectomy and hysterectomy as my cousin
had previously told me. I was really hoping the news I would get would be
different. I was hoping I could take a pill to prevent cancer. Anything but a mastectomy
at least!!

I decided to ignore the information that was given to me, sweep it under the
rug, act like it never happened.

1 month goes by…

I was massaging my breasts (to soften them up after the implant procedure)
and I felt a tiny lump, I immediately thought it had something to do with the
implants. I called the Provider’s office and they said it wouldn’t be due to
the implants. I then made an appointment with my Provider. I had my Provider
look at the lump. She scheduled an ultrasound.

THE ULTRASOUND

The lump looked very suspicious. I decided to wait a week to get the lump biopsied
because I was leaving in a few days for a cruise we had planned for a year. The
biopsy would prevent me from getting in the water and possibly rupturing the
implant.

The Genetic Test

I decided to follow through with the genetic testing,

Keep in mind if you have a history of breast cancer in your family, please
take this seriously.

FAST Forward

I got back from the cruise and had a voicemail to contact the office who did
the genetic testing, they had my results. I called; the results took the breath
out of me. I carried the BRCA 1 gene mutation.

I went in the next day to do the biopsy.

Two days later, I received the phone call that turned my whole world upside
down. I have cancer!

To learn more about the BRCA 1 and 2 Gene mutation please click the link
below.

Link:

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/young_women/bringyourbrave/hereditary_breast_cancer/brca_gene_mutations.htm?utm_campaign=CDC_BYB_22&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=SEM&utm_content=gen