No Matter What, Get Up, Dress Up, Show Up 🌟 . Today was my follow up with my plastic surgeon. It’s been 5 years. 5 years since I was in the middle of an ACT chemo treatment series. My appointment went well, there’s no changes. Next year mother MRI before the next follow up. . Today was a day of highs and lows. #BreastCancerAwareness means so much to me. It was because my friend Marie was living her life with #IBC or inflammatory breast cancer I made sure I made my first #Mammogram appointment. I was 40. . It wasn’t lost on me that I wanted to be apart of Marie’s fundraiser and I hadn’t even had my first screening. Marie was THE BEST. She could make you laugh ALL night long. Although we had gone to school together I got to know her on FB through mutual friends. I hadn’t a clue that she had cancer, was sick, trying to raise four kids in between chemo cocktails... every night she would chat back and forth on FB statuses. This was back when you used to have to refresh the page to see new comments.! We would all laugh til we had tears and side splits. . Our beautiful friend Marie passed away the day after Christmas in 2012 at 42. She was taken way too soon but she taught me so much about the value of life and the gift of we have in every day. . Four months later, just shy of scheduling my annual screening and my 43rd birthday I found a lump after working out. Marie, always shining her light from above, kept me hyperaware of changes and staying proactive with my health. . With Marie and a very close friend, Dawn, a long term survivor paving the way I braved the diagnostic mammogram and everything that followed from diagnoses, treatment, surgery and the aftermath. . I’m in awe that all that occurred in 2013, 5 years ago. I can’t impress upon you enough to become hyper aware of your own body and to schedule your appointments. Not all #BreastCancer has lumps, many cases do not have any physical indications/changes and it’s got less to do with your family history than You think. (Gene mutations are the exception to this rule!). PLEASE GET CHECKED ASAP. Thank you. 💗