My Old Life
Some of you may be wondering why I’m dedicating an entire post to my life before I was diagnosed, but I think it’s important to understand who I was before my “new life” before I get into why “Fueling Your Soul” is so important.
I also want to emphasize how my life truly did come to a screeching halt with NO warning whatsoever. So let’s take a look back before Wednesday November 14th 2018…
At the time I was 27, about to turn 28 in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I come from a large family on both sides, and I have many friends from many different parts of my life, from all over the US and the world. I would meet up with friends 2-5x a week grabbing dinner or drinks or doing something fun. I’m not trying to toot my own horn, I’m trying to tell you about my “previous life”.
From December 2017 to October 2018, I had 7 weddings in 5 different states. Only 3 of them were cousins. One in North Carolina, one in California, one in Maryland, I was a bridesmaid for one in New Hampshire; and I had 3 that were local or near by where I live outside of Philadelphia, PA. Damn those weddings were so much fun. I love weddings, I love getting dressed up, and most importantly I love spending time with people that I love.
When I wasn’t going to a wedding, I was working every other Saturday.
Let me tell you, that was very exhausting and mentally taxing. I have worked retail where I have worked Saturdays AND Sundays, but this was very different. Also, when you’re single and trying to have fun and meet people by going to events that happen on Saturdays, you miss out on a lot. Or at least you definitely feel like it.
You’re constantly trying to get enough energy to go out and have some fun,
only to feel exhausted all over again.
An endless cycle.
Luckily I was able to make the most out of the 3 day weekends when possible. One thing that is fun about having friends all over the country, is that you have somewhere fun to visit! Two of my best friends live in Chicago and New Hampshire, and I tried to visit them at least once a year. I was going out of state at least once every two months. Always on the go. And I loved it. Or so I thought.
In spring 2018, I had 3 weddings spaced out over 5 weeks, a wedding every other weekend. And yup, when I wasn’t traveling to California or Maryland for a wedding, I was working that Saturday. It was definitely a recipe for a burnout. On top of that, I was in my first year being a sales consultant and being on commission. So that in itself was very stressful and exhausting. After those 3 back to back weddings, I traveled to Nashville in June for my friend’s bachelorette party for the wedding that I was a bridesmaid for in September in New Hampshire. For a few weeks in July and August, my family rents a house at the shore(the beach) in New Jersey. Luckily I was able to take a week off and spend some time down there with my mom, aunt, and one of my best friends.
I remember saying to many people that summer, that I felt like I was going to hit a burnout phase after my next round of weddings in the fall.
And again, I had 3 weddings in 5 weeks, working Saturdays when I wasn’t at a wedding. I did get to take a day off during the following week, but I would normally take the following Friday off to make it a 3 day weekend(to travel for a wedding) rather than taking off Monday to have 2 days to recover.
Three weeks after attending
my last wedding,
I was diagnosed.
Luckily, that was the last week that I could get bloodwork done for insurance purposes for work. The morning after I got the bloodwork done, I got a phone call and was told to go to the ER by my primary doctor and diagnosed on a Wednesday, and that Friday I was supposed to attend a black tie fundraiser with one of my best guy friends. That next week was Thanksgiving. Two weeks after that was my 28th birthday. And 10 days after my birthday was Christmas. I had a girl friend from college visiting me from Texas for New Years and we were supposed to be going to a music festival. I was supposed to be purchasing my Ikon ski pass to go to Utah in February to go skiing with a few of my girl friends. And yes, all of those things ran through my mind when the oncologist in the ER told me I wasn’t going to be leaving the hospital for a few weeks.
Not many people know what it’s like to have your life truly STOP, and you have no control over it. Yes, you have gotten a PREVIEW of it with COVID. I’ll go into more detail in my diagnosis story, but you now see why I felt like I needed to explain what my life was like before being diagnosed.
A screeching halt indeed.
You go brave girl!