After having a completed chemo and surgeries, I’m moving into the next phase of my life. Remission. It’s also a strange in-between era because I still have 3 months of Herceptin infusions remaining and 5 years of Aromatase Inhibitors ahead of me.
That said, my life goals have shifted from “manifest pCR” (pathological complete response) to “maintain remission & prevent recurrence.”
When you lay out all the things one should be doing to prevent cancer recurrence (please read that as dripping with sarcasm) it could be a full time job. I’ve chosen to pick and choose the things that make sense to me to maintain my physical, emotional, and mental health.
Other people may make different choices, and that’s cool too. I’m clear that health and wellness for me includes self-care, learning, adventure, risk-taking, and creativity. I’m now “high maintenance” and for the first time in my life that feels like an entirely positive thing.
I’m sure this list will evolve (it already has!) and while it may look like a lot, keep in mind I sort of added new things as I felt ready. It all started with the early waking and journaling- everything else was stacked on top of that. So if you’re thinking about maintaining remission, here’s where I’ve landed.
My Morning Ritual (approx 3 hours)
Wake Up (between 5:00-6:00 am, or when my whoop shows a “green recovery”, whichever is first)
Make Green Tea (incorporating antioxidants and delaying my first coffee)
Get Morning Sunlight (I’m obsessed with good sleep and thus helps our circadian rhythm) for 10-15 minutes. If I’m being honest, though, this is the piece that already feels hardest to maintain and so it may fall off when I return to work.
Do Mobility (stretching exercises from Keir at Foghorn Fitness) for 10 minutes
Journaling, with coffee (I use the Huberman prompts: 5 gratitudes, today’s highlight, something you regret/resent, less of, more of) for 15 minutes, en français. I love a good double-duty activity and journaling while practicing written French is very satisfying.
To Do List & NYT puzzles (this is my reward for journaling- planning my day which clears my head, and then doing connections, mini, and wordle with my sisters)
Workout (if at home, 20-30 min of strength or yoga. If working with my trainer, Keir, it’s 50 min of breath work, mobility, and strength. It’s a highlight of my week!- see pic below)
Take meds & supplements (a whole category of its own, sadly)
Bodywork (Cancer related: lymph scar cording stretches, lymphatic flow exercises, sensory retraining, scar tissue manipulation, wave plate. Bell’s palsy related: warm compress, facial massage, red light therapy). This all takes 30 minutes, at the least.
Take a French lesson (one of the silver linings of chemotherapy and subsequently taking a leave of absence from work was adding in an hour of French conversation with my new tutor on Preply. She’s fun and encouraging and it’s keeping my brain engaged, once each week).
My Afternoon Add-Ons:
Drink LMNT water (my fave way to stay hydrated and have better recovery scores. I’m a giant fan. See below for a link)
Go for a walk (depending upon timing- anywhere from 15 min to 3 hours).
Enjoy a “snack” of AG1 drink (A great way to include greens and boost cancer-fighting capabilities)
Get Acupuncture (I try to squeeze this in 2-3 times each week to help with nerve stimulation for the Bells Palsy. It will be harder to keep up this frequency when I’m back at work, but thank goodness for San Francisco Community Acupuncture- they’re affordable and also open into the evenings)
Evening Ritual (approx. 2 hours)
Creativity time (for me, this is generally early evening hours, and includes drawing or writing. Both help me feel peaceful and productive, so I squeeze them in when i can!)
Breast Cancer Support Group (I’m beyond grateful for this group of women and our fabulous facilitator. I remember at the beginning thinking “I don’t need a support group, I have enough friends.” Ha! How wrong I was. Through one of my best friends, I was connected to my Monday night support group, and I haven’t looked back since. We commiserate, we cry, we share, we learn, and we laugh together. It’s so important to be with people who inherently and viscerally understand).
Listen to 528 hertz while doing a warm eye compress (a dear friend sent me this audio and I love it; I listen for 10 min with an eye mask to help my post chemo eyesight and also my Bell’s Palsy)
Take rx & supplements (it’s so fun I do it twice each day)
Skin care (just my regular pre-cancer routine, but I now consciously use the time to add in more facial massage to stimulate the muscles on the side affected by Bell’s palsy)
Lymphatic Flow exercises (once you’ve had cancer in your lymph nodes, you obsess about them being able to clear toxins)
Read in Bed (I have been working with a phenomenal health coach from Zero Breast Cancer, and she’s helped me identify many of these routines. Especially getting to bed by 9:15. I’m not even ashamed to say I love a 5:30 dinner reservation and I’m a pumpkin by 8:30 pm)
There’s nothing I want more than to maintain remission… so most of this feels like something I get to do and I choose for myself. These things fuel me and bring me joy through self-care, learning, and creativity. And yes, it might be high maintenance… and that’s empowering.
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Resources mentioned:
LMNT: Use this link for a free Sample Pack of electrolytes http://elementallabs.refr.cc/larahitchcock
Whoop: Get a free trial when you join with my link: https://try.whoop.com/larahitchcock
Working out with my trainer and coach. He’s helped me not only with regaining my physical strength, but also my mental toughness and wellness approach throughout the cancer journey. Photo: Keir Beadling & Foghorn Fitness.