The answer is yes
Before I get to my thoughts for this week, I have to say a massive thank you to everyone who donated to Adelaide’s birthday fundraiser for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network Foundation. I put $5,000 down for our goal, thinking it was a stretch, but you all surpassed it by hundreds of dollars. Seriously, we’re just shy of $6,000 right now. Watching the donation amount increase throughout the day brought me so much joy. It was such a special way to celebrate Adelaide’s 10th birthday, and I cannot thank you enough.
In fact, it was that joy that gave me the boost I needed to finish out the emotional hell week of Adelaide’s death day and birthday (five days apart) and continue on in my season of “yes”. After a year of having to say no or not yet – thanks to cancer hijacking my life – I am thoroughly enjoying this opportunity for yes.
Come to your event? Yes.
Meet you for lunch? Yes.
Come on your podcast? Yes.
Unfortunately, my endurance (or immune system) isn’t quite where it once was as it's only October and I’m already fighting off a cold. Typically, my body can hold out until at least Christmas before falling apart. But this isn’t the same body I once knew and I’m not just talking about the new boobs. Whether it’s because I’m still recovering from three surgeries in six months, or it’s the Tamoxifen pills messing with my hormones, or I’m just out of shape - I don’t know. But this body has new limits and I’m not a fan.
I can already hear everyone saying to give myself time and grace. And to that I say, no thank you. I have a book to launch, a tour to promote, non-profit boards to help, and a family to care for. I am tired of waiting - first for my emotional health to work through my grief and then my physical health to recover from the cancer. So, I will be mainlining vitamin C, echinacea, antidepressants, and caffeine for the foreseeable future.
Before anyone freaks out and calls my mom, I know this is not sustainable. This is a season of life, and it is for now. But also, it feels really good to be busy like this again. Just don’t tell my therapist because we did A LOT of work on me not equating my self-worth with my productivity and I think she might see this as a regression.
That said, I am going to cut myself some slack on the blog this week – it’s a shorter one. But also, I have been working on so many exciting things recently and I cannot wait to share them with you. Not least of all is the freaking book that will be in your hands in 10 days – assuming you’ve pre-ordered. You did ore-order it already didn’t you?
And you purchased your tour tickets? Don’t forget to get those too – especially if you’re planning on attending in Maplewood, NYC, Chicago, or Boston as you have to have a ticket to attend those events. San Diego, LA, and San Francisco are all free to attend, but each has their own RSVP rules.
Ok, thanks to this cold I can’t breathe out of my nose anymore, and I can only hear out of one ear due to the air pressure from my flight to Chicago for CURE Epilepsy’s board meeting – it might be time for bed. See, I listen to my body! I just make it yell for a bit, you know, to make sure it really means it and isn’t complaining unnecessarily.
More soon!
ID: Miguel is wearing a black t-shirt with a ladybug on it, Kelly is wearing a white shirt and a red skirt, Jackson is wearing a black tshirt and grey sweatpants with a hot pink baseball hat. They are standing around a cake blowing out a candle for Adelaide’s birthday.
