My swimming workout is my ultimate treat each week. I consider it a great escape because it takes me to an alternate place. In the water, my body is horizontal. I glide through the water and work all the muscles in my body, from head to toe. I am on a different plane and weightless in the water. This roughly 45 minute experience restores my mental and physical energy. It helps me to feel better in my skin. When I finish, I take a long (and usually warm) shower. I head right home to finish drying my hair and am ready to start my day.

I walk out of the locker room feeling both energized and relaxed. I could conquer anything in the day or I could take a nap (which I never do). I know that I crave the effects swimming has on my body.

This swimming experience is a routine and a ritual. I have become so in need of the feeling that this moderate-intensity swim workout gives me that I cannot go without it. I have really come to rely on this swimming ritual to eliminate the feeling of stress that has lingered in me for a lot of days over the past 2 years, since my breast cancer journey started. I know that the best way to get rid of the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach at 2 or 3 am is to swim them away.

Without any doubt, there is a much physiological benefit from time in the water, too. Feeling the butterflies in my stomach signals the stress I am experiencing. Much of this is related to the fear that breast cancer creates in me. That stress cannot live in me. I must release it. I have found that the pool is the best way, although not the only exercise I use to lower or eliminate my stress.

I realize that this past year, swimming has become so important. There have been times when I was not able to swim. I did survive without the water, but now I know what is best for my mind and body. I am more in tune to my mind and body and I am more fearful of what will happen if I do not take care of it. Breast cancer is the biggest element of why I get to the pool each week. I did not always feel the effects of the water in such a deep way, although swimming has been part of my exercise for many years, even if more or less frequently than my current routine.

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare questions and concerns. This podcast contains opinions of the host.

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I am at a point now where I have follow-up breast imaging. I suspect everything will be normal. I considered rescheduling the upcoming appointments related to my breast cancer until after the holiday season.

A few common thoughts that I bring up in this episode:

• Survivorship can be difficult, even when things are going well

• Everything has the potential to be something in the body after a history of breast cancer

• Testing (a breast MRI) in December has the potential to distract me from what is most important at this time of the year

• Going to doctor appointments is not how I want to spend my December

• Strategies to manage stress are essential

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The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare questions and concerns. This podcast contains opinions of the host.

LET'S CONNECT:

connect@breastcancerlife.org

In this episode, I talk about being compelled to take on projects that are important to me. This includes a lot of “putting life in order” tasks that seem to be priorities for me now. The year of 2023 was consumed by my health care experience that was centered on the breast cancer screening, diagnosis, recovery and the start of survivorship. Finally, after a year of learning to live as a survivor, I am feeling that I have space in my life to take on extra projects like creating photo albums to tell the story of my family life. Breast cancer brings up a lot of emotions and makes the future unclear.

Subscribe, rate, and review the Breast Cancer Life podcast.

The content of this podcast is not intended to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a healthcare professional regarding your healthcare questions and concerns. This podcast contains the opinions of the host.

LET'S CONNECT:

connect@breastcancerlife.org