Hi, I just wanted to introduce you to some of my work. I have been writing about pain and loss, and I have found the art of writing very cathartic. It has been a healing tool for my growth. As I sit and write, I move through the grief of who I once was—the person I was prior to 2021.

I had just turned 36 a month before and had gone to my doctor with what I knew to be a tumor in my left breast. Arriving at the doctor on that dreaded day, I knew my life would change forever. I had no clue how drastic it would be. I went through all the motions of the necessary steps, moving through days which turned into months, which turned into years.

I am now arriving at my four-year mark, and the effects of my experience have most certainly remained: the anxiety, fatigue, grief, pain and the diminished capacity to hold anything that doesn't suit my life. I sit idle most days, and I am consumed with what recovery looks like to me. It doesn't look like much to an outsider, but inside there is a growth, a resilience, and a tenacity that I didn't know existed.