In hindsight, these are the things I wish I knew before being diagnosed with breast cancer. From getting that suspicious lump checked out to healing from surgery, here are some important tips and considerations for the newly diagnosed. 1. Don’t wait to get it checked out! Set your mind at ease and nip it in… Continue reading 10 Things I Wish Someone Told Me -Tips to Help When You Suspect Breast Cancer
Author: Melissa Eppard
I am a professionally trained and certified Life Coach with personal experience overcoming cancer as a mom in my mid-30's. After a diagnosis in 2014 I began blogging as a way to communicate with my family and friends, but it soon became much more than that. Writing was my lifeboat and connection with the outside world while immune compromised and healing from surgery.
Now I’m using my personal and professional experiences and living my dream of supporting others as a Healing Hope Cancer Coach. I help my clients understand their options, develop the best care team and a supportive network. Together we unpack the experience of having a cancer diagnosis, processing the emotional impact of a cancer. I offer stress reduction techniques to help manage fear and uncertainty, and coaching to support healing on all dimensions. After treatment ends, I help people find their personal roadmap through the pain and uncertainty, to a life fueled by clarity, personal strength and a connection to their unique life purpose. From diagnosis, through treatment and recovery, no one should go it alone!
I draw upon 10+ years of work immersed in holistic health and wellness. I was born and raised in the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York and live there still with my husband and son. My survivorship blog Melissashealinghope.com chronicles my healing journey. You can learn more about my work as a coach at MelissaEppardCoaching.com.
Finding the Path Through the Pain: a Roadmap to Rebuilding Your Life After Cancer
After treatment ends, and the “Survivor Confetti” is swept away, there are unique challenges for the younger cancer survivor. While much of the focus is on the newly diagnosed, and the actual fight to overcome cancer, little is discussed about this latter part of the healing journey. As a 3 year survivor, I know firsthand… Continue reading Finding the Path Through the Pain: a Roadmap to Rebuilding Your Life After Cancer
Do Not Squander Your Gifts
When I imagine the voice of God, I think of the smell of mildewed bibles and lemon wood polish. I see the blue and green itchy plaid jumper, interwoven with threads of yellow, my pale scabby knees jutting out over the edge of the pew. I remember the white leather bound missal with gold embossed… Continue reading Do Not Squander Your Gifts
Giving Thanks in Times of War
There has been a growing unrest between the daily headlines. I can read it in the new creases of my brow. Lines have been drawn and the artillery of offensive acts and politifacts carefully stacked. I am armed to the teeth and ready to face the enemy. That is where my story ends. Really I… Continue reading Giving Thanks in Times of War
Coping with Loss after Cancer
There is a raw wordless ache in my core. When I start to approach it, it builds into a fire that agitates my whole system and threatens to engulf the whole of me. It’s in my pulse and my blood. My scalp prickles and my hair hurts. I itch all over. My hands are restless,… Continue reading Coping with Loss after Cancer
What You Nurture Will Grow
In the dark cob-webbed cellar of my being, there is an old rooted belief that my value as a person is tied up in how hard I work. Logically, I know this to be untrue, but coming from a long line of type-A workaholics...
A Whole Year of Turning 40: Not Just Another Party
Forget the cake and the presents. I have a plan to make this celebration last all year long!
This Life Worth Saving
My baby is about to turn 7. This time of year sparks a charge for me, because as I hold him and look into those gigantic brown eyes, I remember how terrified I was three years ago at this time. As much as I wanted to crumble and hide from the world, I found myself… Continue reading This Life Worth Saving
All the Right Reasons
I poured my guts out a few months ago about an experience of applying for a full time job, the first real full time 9-5, salaried with benefits kind of job since being turned inside out by breast cancer and all that came with it. Recently the Young Survival Coalition shared my story as a… Continue reading All the Right Reasons
Trying and Crying, an Igloo made of Tears: Employment after Cancer
I pounded my fists into the snow, packing down the bucket, an obsessive attempt at completing the igloo Julian had started. Being only 6, he gave up about two bricks into the process before returning to his sled. Sliding the icy cylinder into place, soaking in the silence of winter, I let the first fiery… Continue reading Trying and Crying, an Igloo made of Tears: Employment after Cancer
Melissa's Healing Hope 