People think once the cancer is “gone,” it’s over. But for me, that was just the beginning. After my double mastectomy in 2021, I went through a cascade of surgeries—seven in total—all tied to complications, infections, reconstruction, and recurrence. That word—recurrence—still makes my stomach drop. I did everything I was supposed to. And yet cancer…

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic. I don’t know if people realize what that meant at the time, but everything was different. Hospitals weren’t allowing visitors. Waiting rooms were quiet and sterile. Everyone was scared. Everything felt uncertain—even the air. I had to do so…

Today feels heavy. Not in a dramatic way—more like a slow, quiet ache in the background. The kind that creeps in when you’re trying to be strong for someone else, and it reminds you just how long you’ve been holding it all together. My best friend just had a mastectomy. She’s in that beginning stage—the…