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kate ellis was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 42, at the height of the pandemic, and again when she was 43. she has undergone a single mastectomy, breast reconstruction, chemotherapy, forced menopause, plus an oophorectomy (removal of ovaries), and nipple reconstruction. she chronicles her experience with cancer and the messy collateral damage on instagram @lump_into_lemonade .
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it just might be one of the most challenging things about managing a serious illness — once you’ve gotten a diagnosis, it can feel like anything can come next, that it’s open season on your body. all bets are off. we can mostly blame this sensation on the fact that the body — the brain too — remembers traumatic events, scary or life-changing diagnoses included. when you have experienced medical trauma or you have witnessed it, memories of the emotions, physical reactions, even smells, are stored in the brain to be easily triggered whenever something happens that reminds you of those moments, such as a strange pain or a worrying test result.
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