healingmycells

January 22, 2024: The foundation for my page and my personal well-being practice has been Choosing Joy and having a Gratitude attitude! I began at the time of diagnosis and thru all of my treatment! Joy and Gratitude are not Wellness fads, they are foundations… Influencers influence… they jump on trends… Be careful with who you allow to influence your Well-being! Xo Carina ✨❤️

January 12, 2024: May I always remember that I was able to squash the fear by looking inside and letting my light shine✨

January 10, 2024: Building habits that stick: Make a plan and stick to it! One small step each day is all you need! Which will you choose today? Xo Carina

January 8, 2024: Get your priorities straight! ✨❤️

This is 51! ✨
I choose it all: achy joints, wrinkles, a body that has endured 2 cesarian sections, a bilateral mastectomy, the removal of my ovaries, a reconstructive surgery and 51 years of regular wear and tear! Filled with gratitude and simply stated, ‘I am just happy to be here’! 🥹 Had dinner across the street from where my Dad worked for over 25 years… Bushwick was not safe to walk around in the 80s and now gentrified like most of Brooklyn! It was lit up with Food Trucks lining its streets filled with great little restaurants, immigrants and young white Americans alike, seeking the same dream with the city skyline as its backdrop 🌆 ❤️

January 5, 2024: The wanting to change comes from the inside… you have to want it more than anything else!

January 4, 2024: Today I am letting go of ‘Stuff’ 😬 ! What have you done?

January 3, 2024! Always reframing my thoughts 🧠✨😉

January 2, 2024 ❤️✌️✨

January 1, 2024 : You have the power to change how you perceive your life!

‘You’ve always had the Power My Dear’ by …This image was created by Jeff as a result of many hours of collaboration over zoom- - over several months! My gratitude to and for choosing me as an artist of inspiration is endless! It has been a beautiful experience. For those who have followed my story… this image is ‘THE’ representation of my walk through Breast Cancer! If you are interested in participating or donating to this wonderful program please go to their page…. I finally received the art work yesterday! So special to have this chapter of my journey 🌈✨ come to life in such a memorable way!

Imperfectly Us! 🙊🙉🙈🐵 🤪🤣 So grateful for another Christmas with my 3 men + 🐶 🥰

Imperfectly Us! 🙊🙉🙈🐵 So grateful for another Christmas 🎄with my 3 men + 🐶 🥰

Everything changed 2 years ago! I walked into my bilateral amputation with love in my heart and peace in my soul! I danced in pre and post-op. My ability to choose joy and lead with gratitude does not change the physical scars left behind. Rather, it allows me to view them as a daily reminder that my body is not to be taken for granted. It requires love… love that only I can give it! Today, I mourn the old me… the one who walked through her 48 years of life taking every breath for granted, the woman who cared more for others than herself, and the one who had to be kicked so far down to understand the value she brings and the love she deserves! The three tumors were removed that day, the 4 months of chemo was a rebirth of my cells and my job ever since has been to continue healing my cells ✨

You are worth 10-15 mins of peace! That has been the greatest gift I have ever given myself! My gratitude practice consists of journaling, sitting in nature and listening to Gratitude Meditations! Not all three in one day… I listen to my body and pick one daily! Join me tomorrow at Noon (EST) for my first ever live…. 10 mins: sitting in your car at your job’s parking lot, in your office or in the comfort of your home! Sharing what I do in my private time with you and hoping you will find benefit like I have! Whether 1 person joins me or 1000…. I will be practicing Gratitude… will you? XO Carina

26 years after promising to be there in sickness and in health! This image was taken the day before our 24th anniversary. On October 18th, I had a mammo/sono appt and for the first time ever, you came to the appt with me. I was still dealing with intense anxiety and PTSD symptoms from the months of medical issues. For the first time in close to 15 years of mammos, the nurse called me back in to capture additional images. I knew it then… of all the years I did this alone (as we all do) you were there with me! Immediately after the sonogram, the coordinator came out and said, we have to schedule 3 biopsies ASAP. You asked if we could wait a few days and they said no… it needs to happen tomorrow. I don’t want to remember this day as the day they found the tumors… I want to always hold it in my heart as the day we promised to be there in sickness and in health! ❤️✨ Happy Anniversary

Decided to get creative with Fundraising! I have decided to Let Go of ‘things’ and post them on …50% of profits will be donated to Stage 4 Research Fund!

My truth does not negate yours! i am sending you so much healing light! I feel your pain, I know the fear, I understand your anger! My Chemotherapy experience was a magic carpet ride! It was a time of freedom, healing, flow and pure love! I HAD NO PAIN! None! I drove home from my treatments… I never experienced the bone pain many describe, no side effects from the injection post treatment and I never took meds other than the steroid. I never had trouble sleeping, I had some minor fatigue, lost my hair, lost my toe nails and blood pressure got wonky! That is my truth! For those who have asked me… yes I was on ACT … I called it Hawaiian punch…. Though I know most refer to it as the Red Devil. 4 Rounds of Hawaiian Punch and 10 of Taxol. I am telling my truth because anyone who thinks my experience is not possible… is very close minded… it is possible… I am not the first and certainly won’t be the last! Let’s talk… I think stories like mine are hard to come by but truthful!

I have spent the majority of my life speaking my mind on topics of importance to me. The truth is that the last few weeks have been very challenging for me…I am emotionally well, strong, healthy and joyful….But the energy leading up to is triggering me in ways that I know are helping me grow but are hard for me to swallow! The triggers are shrinking me. Everyone on this journey starts from a different line, travels a different path, has different levels of support and has different expectations! I had zero intent for my page and when the energy took over… I hope it reflected the power of ‘watching a 4 minute mile’✨ My goal has always been to heal not only from BC but from past traumas. As I move forward, I need to be honest with not just myself, but with the audience on this page and beyond… I have tread lightly on so much of my journey but keeping my views to myself is not helping anyone! I need to go ‘all in’ on how my 4 minute mile was achieved so that anyone who wishes to replicate it has the tools and equipment to do so!

September is here..In 2021, I was in and out of the hospital with no answers for my then, on going symptoms, suffering from Panic attacks as a result of a nerve medication named Gabapentin. In September of 2022, I completed my radiation treatments. In September of 2023, I will be having my Swap surgery, final phase of my reconstruction. Its been 23 months since my diagnosis…. This is not a race, rather a marathon…. Better yet… it is a journey!this journey has taught me so much about myself, life, & others and one thing is very clear… HEALING takes on different forms for each of us… I hope you find yours! Forever grateful to for my constant reminder when I look in the mirror! My necklace means the world to me ✨❤️

We may all be looking at the same thing….but our lenses see very different things… I guess that is why we say ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’! Feeling so very grateful! Happy Weekend all!

Survivorship: Over the last several days I have experienced some shallow breathing… checked my heart rate/oxygen/blood pressure… went thru every basic at-home evaluation but decided to finally call my Onco’s office this afternoon. After 18 mos on a blood thinner, I was taken off about three months ago. So my medical team decided that I needed to head in and have my chest evaluated for a possible PE via CT scan. I got in the car, drove my usual route to my local MSKCC and did some calming breath-work, spoke some affirmations…. PTSD tries to creep in to my thoughts during these times… but I have my tools to keep me calm. As I walked up to the bldg, an ambulance was waiting to transport a patient and in the past, the image I captured (if you slide thru my photos) would have been the ultimate trigger… but I managed to speak to my body and repeated ‘ I am safe, I am calm, I am healthy’… I managed to remain joyful, interacting with the staff in my usual gratitude filled manner… they took me in for the scan…waited a bit until my husband arrived and soon thereafter, Doctor walked in and delivered the good news… no PE. Not sure what is causing the issue… so I live another day… with side effects from meds making it difficult to decipher what’s what… Survivorship is so tricky. Living in this new body is a daily learning experience. If you have a loved one in the survivorship stage…. ask them how they are feeling? The aftermath of treatment on the body is not easy… some of us carry the weight of it with makeup on, perfectly groomed hair and nice outfits… but the Body and Mind need extra care! You can’t slap lipstick on a pig…In our case, you have to have time to heal the tattered pieces… it does slowly get better…but you must remember that it can and will never be the same again! Anyway, earlier in the day, I was driving and saw a bright red cardinal in the middle of the road (my Dad’s fav bird and etched on his gravestone)… I felt like he was watching over me today. No clots❤️

July 4, 2021- Woke up in the Stroke Unit of my local hospital. Talk about overcoming Trauma and PTSD. 🤯

Survivorship looks very different for all impacted by their .

Treatment does not end when Chemotherapy treatments are completed.

How has survivorship and its treatments impacted you?

A very special young woman in California is in active treatment for the second time in a year... She has lost her eyelashes and eyebrows... Looks in the mirror and does not recognize herself ... ... You are not alone... (me last year) It is difficult to bare down... While my eyelashes and eyebrows have returned... The lessons learned during my time in treatment are forever imprinted in my soul! Look into your eyes and see the beauty... Not what we learned with our eyes, but with your heart! Araceli, you are so much more beautiful inside... Your light.. Your love of family, your Lucy and your plants... You are a beautiful, strong and loved soul! Shine bright and know that we are all sending you healing light, today and always! Much love, Carina

Prior to my Breast Cancer diagnosis, I would have dwelled on the many days I was unable to be there due to treatment. CARINA 2.0 has chosen to acknowledge the 'Mom guilt' and move forward with assuring that I take the utmost care of my mind and body so I can be there moving forward. The old me wanted to be perfect... I confused giving my all, with perfection. I have chosen to be much more spontaneous and that 'winging it' is a matter of choosing your thoughts and not letting yourself be tied down to any particular outcome. I missed so much...yet gained so much more! My goal thru out treatment was to visit you while studying abroad... And that vision kept me moving forward...You were home for my 50th, I jumped on a plane to surprise you on your 21st and have been able to come down to watch a few game and spend some quality time with you. This past week, I decided to spend Mother's Day with you... Spent the day on a lacrosse field like I did for so many years when you were young! I hope you know that I am a work in progress and hope to model what it means to get up each day and try again... It is never too late and YOU CAN do anything your set your mind to! I love you ❤️

I am so very grateful for the opportunity to have flown twice in the last few weeks to visit our youngest… one tiny issue … my blood work shows that I may be at risk for clotting☹️ So although I was taken off my twice, daily blood thinner… I was instructed to take my blood thinner on flight days. My father passed from a blood clot… so although my PTSD no longer prevents me from living my life…. My first flight alone two weeks ago came with awareness and planning. I often speak about the Universe having my back… on both my flights to and from…. I had empty seats beside me allowing my legs to be raised. I use my flight time in healing ways… read inspiring and thoughtful books, listen to guided meditations and am conscious that my moving forward is work and requires my awareness. Assimilating into somewhat of a normal life: is work… some days I wing part of it… but creating and remaining committed to my healing practices is the key to my success!