Kirby Cuisine: Eat Good, Feel Good

I am still feeling great and am loving this chemo break! Just living like I don’t have metastatic cancer. I just got my hair trimmed this week, and my hair is getting so long! I am so thankful for my hair!! It will be hard to lose it again once I go back on treatment but just trying to be thankful for all the time I’ve had it and trying not to think about the future. Just living in the present. And today is a good day. My mom is here to visit, and she gave me a gift, a copy of my stepdad’s cousin’s cookbook. His cousin made it for her kids because she was tired of having to give her kids the recipes all the time! I can totally sympathize with that! My kids still ask me if I’m working on their cookbooks, and getting this cookbook reminds me I need to get working on them again. My daughter asks me for my recipes all the time, too, and I don’t mind sending them to her over and over again because I’m so happy she cooks! The boys have been requesting all their favorites when they’ve been home, and they are finally interested in helping me make them so they can learn how cook, too. I have always enjoyed baking – cooking, well, it’s OK. I never in my life would have thought I’d turn out to be pretty good at it, and I never thought my kids would think of me as their favorite cook!! Boy, do I have them fooled! 🤣 No, I love that they associate food with family and love. And I love my new cookbook!! It’s filled with recipes made from natural foods and ingredients, which I think is so important when fighting cancer and just for better health for everyone.

And another thing I think is so important in fighting cancer is being your own advocate. I am a pretty shy, quiet person usually. But when it comes to my cancer, my life, I know I need to be educated and speak up when I need to or when I have questions. And, today, or maybe tomorrow – didn’t catch the date on the news this morning – a new FDA regulation means that your doctor has to tell you if you have dense breast tissue. It is more common in young women, and it means you have greater odds of developing breast cancer. So, even if you’re not getting mammograms yet, you will now have a way to advocate for yourself in getting earlier and more advanced screening for breast cancer. And if your doctor doesn’t tell you whether you have dense breast tissue at your next appt., ASK. It could save your life because, trust me, early detection is key.

I’m not sure when my next port flush or bloodwork or appointment is. Trying to just live and not think about it. I just know I will have a scan and appointment with my oncologist in November. I’ll write from my next port flush or when I have bloodwork results. Until then, stay safe and healthy, everyone!