breast cancer

“Ignorance Is Not Bliss”

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“Ignorance is not bliss, and bliss is not found through ignorance.” —Anne Dennish

My ignorance almost cost me my life. Those words carry a different weight when I think about my breast cancer journey—a journey I shared in my book, “Waking Up.”

I’ve also written, “If you should find yourself getting hit hard with the truth, at least let it knock some sense into you.” Breast cancer was a hard truth in my life, and today I’m using my voice to remind you: please don’t put off taking care of yourself. If you’re due for your mammogram, make that appointment.

You matter. Your health matters. Make time for you.

You are important.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

“Breast Cancer Didn’t Own Me – It Shaped Me”

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As we begin Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I find myself thinking back on my own experience twelve years ago. Breast cancer brought fear, uncertainty, treatments, physical changes, and emotions I had never felt before—but it never became the entirety of who I was. It didn’t own me. It shaped me. I have often said, “Chemo healed the cancer, but the cancer healed me,” because that is truly how I felt. It taught me gratitude, grace, strength, and how precious an ordinary day can be.

While I was going through chemotherapy and radiation, I did my best to incorporate breast cancer into my regular life instead of allowing it to become my whole life. I had a wig that I absolutely loved, and wearing it helped me feel like myself. I went to work, out to dinner, and to happy hours. I laughed, spent time with the people I loved, and continued living. That didn’t mean I was never frightened or emotional, and it certainly didn’t mean every day was easy. It meant that beneath the diagnosis, the treatments, and the wig, I was still me—and I was determined not to lose sight of that.

Every woman’s journey through breast cancer is different, and there is no single right way to be strong. But if you are going through it now, I hope you remember that cancer may become part of your story without becoming your entire story. My experience gave me the opportunity to mentor other women, share what helped me, and eventually include my breast cancer journal in my book, “Waking Up.”

Today, twelve years and counting cancer-free, I remain deeply grateful and blessed. Breast cancer didn’t own me. It shaped me. Chemo healed the cancer, but in so many unexpected ways, the cancer healed me.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

“Today Marks 11 Years!”

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This morning I woke up a little differently than yesterday. Today I woke up as an 11 year breast cancer survivor. 

Today I woke up with more gratitude than usual, a gratitude filled with more happiness and smiles, love and laughter. Today I count another year of blessings as a survivor.

Today is a day I pray that I continue to celebrate every year.

Today I remember the journey of my breast cancer and the faith that I had to get through it. 

Today I remember the people who helped me through my journey. Their love and support is something I will be eternally grateful for and they know who they are! 

And today my thoughts and prayers are with those going through their own journey with breast cancer. 

Gratitude is definitely in the house more than usual today. 

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

“I’m A 5 Year Breast Cancer Survivor!”

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The day is finally here: I’m a 5 year breast cancer survivor and I couldn’t be more grateful or feel more blessed!5 year cake

I’m grateful for having survived it, grateful for what it taught me, and grateful that it was a part of my life journey that brought me to where I am now!

I’m grateful for the amazing people that came into my life because of it and even grateful for the people who left because of it. Life is always better when you surround yourself with the right people…and I’ve got a wonderful tribe surrounding me!

And I just have to say it one more time: “I’m a 5 year breast cancer survivor today!”

And it’s a very good thing!

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

5 year 1

“A Memory I’m Grateful For”

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three years

It was four years ago today that I finished my last treatment for breast cancer. It was the day I had waited for since the journey began and as you can see by the look on my face, it was one of the happiest days of my life! It was over and my life was all my own to live again without the shadows of cancer hiding in the background.

And in that four years I’ve written and published two books and began to realize that my life purpose had become just that: a writer of my life experiences; a writer that wanted to make a difference in the world and in someone’s life by sharing her ups and downs and how she got through; and a writer who will never stop trying to help others.

I say that “chemo healed the cancer but the cancer healed me,” and it did. I became even stronger than before and learned how to put myself first and more importantly, how to love myself as much as I love the people in my life. I began to realize the importance of surrounding myself with positive people and that saying good-bye to the negative ones wasn’t a bad thing, but a necessity to live my best life. And that it’s okay to say “no” to things that don’t serve my Highest Good and to people and situations that cause me stress and drama.

In other words, cancer taught me to treat myself as well as I treat others, to love myself just as much, and to be just as kind to myself as I am to them.

Today I sit in a bit more gratitude than most days and am remembering that day four years ago. I’m remembering the lines of the song I wrote about that day:

“Journey is over, the battle is won, a new chapter started, a new day begun,So what do I do now? Where do I start? Do I take the road known or the one less traveled and follow my heart?”

What a day it was four years ago…

What an incredible life it’s been ever since…

What a  beautiful word to be blessed to call myself today: “survivor.”

It’s a good thing.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

“Four Year Survivor Today!”

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February certainly has been a month of new beginnings, adventure and milestones, but today I celebrate a day that I am incredibly grateful for: TODAY I AM A FOUR YEAR BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR!

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in July of 2013, underwent chemo and radiation and had a lumpectomy four years ago today, which is the day that ended the journey and the day I became “cancer-free!”

And I’ve been grateful for every day since then; I’m blessed with another day to live my dream and my passion of writing; another day to love the people I’m surrounded by; another day to live my life to the fullest; and another day to try and make a difference in someone’s life and the world.

I sit in much gratitude today for the blessing of being able to say I had breast cancer and survived it. 

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

“February – My Month of Love and Milestones”

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february my montFebruary has become one of the most important months for me; it’s one I look forward to more and more as each year passes. The reason for my excitement about February is because so many incredible things happened in my life. They were truly life changing events; moments of dreams coming true; and signs of hope, faith and love.

It was on February 15th of 2015 that I met my love, Rob. We were two people who had new hope24been broken by prior relationships and had given up on love and dating. Yet it was through one long phone call that we got to know each other and the first date happened a week later on February 15th. We were nervous and unsure of whether we wanted to risk the heartbreak of another failed relationship, yet by the third date we had fallen in love. In just two weeks we’ll be locked away in an “undisclosed location” to celebrate our three year anniversary. No phones, no computers, and no work!

4 year survivorIt was on February 21st of 2014 that I underwent surgery for a lumpectomy. It was the last piece of my journey with breast cancer. It was on that date that I become cancer free and a survivor! It’s a day you hate to remember yet one that you want to celebrate year after year. Breast cancer was quite the journey for me; one that taught me so much about my life and myself. It helped me find my voice, stand in my truth, and to surround myself with only positive people. This year I will be celebrating my 4 year anniversary date! Each year is such a gift; each day is another blessing.

It was on February 23rd of 2016 that my last book, “Waking Up: Lessons Learned Throughsend to dad 1 My Adventures With Life and Breast Cancer” was published. It was a dream come true; one that became more than a book when I teamed up with a musician who wrote the music, sang, and recorded my song lyrics to the book. We did several public appearances together and used them as an opportunity to help others by making them a fundraiser. It’s another anniversary to celebrate, and a wonderful 2 year one at that!

promo picsAnd here’s the new and exciting news for this beautiful month of February, and strangely enough, an amazing coincidence: my newest book, “My Collective Soul: Things I Know Without Knowing Why” will be publicly released on February 23rd of 2018…just two years to the day that the last book was published! Yet I don’t believe in coincidences; I believe that everything happens for a reason and the Universe must have planned it this way.

And I’m so glad it did.

I am so incredibly grateful for this beautiful month of love and milestones.

I’m waiting to see what other endless possibilities the Universe has planned for me this month.

I have faith that it will be something amazing.

And I can’t wait to see what it is.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

gratitude for my life

 

“Remembering The Last Day Of Chemo”

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It was three years ago today that I wrote the following post below. It was my last day of treatment for my breast cancer. It seems like that day was a lifetime ago but I’m forever grateful for closing that chapter. The journey of breast cancer may be over, but the lessons I learned have become a part of me. As I say “Chemo healed the cancer, but the cancer healed me.”

And it did…

“Today was my very last treatment of the “golden ticket” drug, herceptin, at the Cancer Institute in New Brunswick. The nurses celebrated my milestone by decorating the medicine bag with stickers, throwing pink confetti at me, and making me a “last day of chemo” sign! Even though chemo was done months ago, I’m grateful that my every three week treatment has come to a close. It was a day of celebration and tears as I said good-bye to my “Angels” who have been there with me since last August. They were my teachers, my mentors, and my friends as I went through this journey with them. They truly are “Angels” and I am forever grateful to them for all that they did for me. The last piece will be on Thursday when I have my port removed. So this is one time I will not say that a chapter is finished and a new one started; tonight I raise a glass of wine to “finishing this book, and never opening it again!”

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

“Chemo Healed The Cancer But The Cancer Healed Me”

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My last book, “Waking Up: Lessons Learned From My Adventures With Life and Breast Cancer” was born over two years ago while lying on a radiation table for breast cancer.

I’m the type of person that loves meeting people because every single one of us has a story…we ARE a story! Some may not believe that, yet as a writer, I know it’s true. I was out to dinner with my love one night, along with his cousin and his love, and a table full of people I had never met. Yet by the end of the night, I knew them well.

You see, that’s the beauty of paying attention to people and speaking to them, yet more importantly, LISTENING to them. They were laughing at me last night when I said that the whole night of conversations was indeed a story!

So it’s no surprise that “Waking Up” was born; the idea may have begun on a radiation table, yet the stories were already taking shape in my mind, and for the last two years of writing it, more stories were born. Every story is true; most of them are of my personal experiences, and there are a few born out of situations with someone else who graciously allowed me to write about it

Yet, here’s what that one moment that woke me up was: “breast cancer!”

Yes, I had been on a spiritual journey for years, but finding out I had cancer was a big kick in the ass! I realized that as much as I had learned over the years, the lessons were far from over. Breast cancer changed my life and how I live it. That tumor was all the things I never said out loud, all the pain of allowing people to treat me badly. It was everything I never said that I should have, so I made a deal with the cancer: “I’ll open my mouth and use my voice, I’ll make better choices of who I surround myself with, I’ll rid myself of people and situations that make me feel less than good, and I’ll take all of this and write about it to help someone else as long as you leave my body when the time is right.”

I guess the cancer agreed with the deal, because it held up its’ end of the bargain. I did all those things and it left me the day they cut all that stuff out of my body. They did more than a lumpectomy on February 21st. As cancer and I were about to say good-bye that day, I could hear it speaking to me. Sounds crazy, but it wasn’t really. It said: “You’ve done the work and I know it wasn’t easy. I’m sorry to have had to come and visit you, but this journey is over. Remember the lessons, remember to love yourself, and finish up our deal: tell your lessons to everyone you can reach. I’m counting on you.”

Well, in a strange way, chemo may have healed my cancer, but my cancer healed me. It taught me more than I could imagined, and since then, I spread the word, I keep out as much drama and stress as I can, and I walk away from anyone or anything that tries to control and manipulate me. Cancer didn’t abuse me as much as some people have tried to, and I’m smarter because of all of it.

“Waking Up” is so much more than a book; it’s my heart and soul that simply wants to make a difference in someone’s life. Life get’s shorter as we get older, and my goal is to live everyday to the fullest, to show love and kindness to someone who needs it, and most importantly, to make someone laugh and smile.

Struggles will always happen in our lives, yet it’s your attitude and perspective that will handle it and teach you more than you could have ever imagined.  After all, “we don’t become who we are by chance; we become who we are by choice.”

Love your lessons, whether you like them or not, because in the end, miracles happen!

“Chemo healed the cancer but the cancer healed me.”

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

 

choice 1

“Keep Dancing Along”

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I believe that you should make your life an exciting adventure, no matter what it hands you. The past is the past, and the future can be as bright as you want it to be. It’s true that there are “endings” in your life, yet they are always followed by “beautiful new beginnings.”

You may not know what the day or future holds, but you always hold the knowledge of where you’ve been and the lessons that it taught you. Embrace each new day with excitement, let go of the past, and “dance along” through your life.

After all, there is no dancing in the dark; there’s only dancing in the light.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

whatPhoto by Anne Dennish 2017