Have Yourself A Beautiful, Breastless Christmas!

Christmas Day is more often than not a day of excitement and a celebration of family and life. It is exhausting for all who prepare it but there is something completely rewarding and worthwhile in that exhaustion. Sadly for some, it is not always a happy day. It can be a genuine financial struggle, can be a lonely time or it can be a time to miss someone who is no longer in our lives (I miss my dad in heaven every year and my brother Matt and his family who live in England!). Some years can definitely be better than others but it’s reassuring to know that nearly everyone would have at some stage experienced one of those emotions at Christmas time and we are never alone in what we are feeling.

Time does eventually heal the different wounds that life can throw at us. It is nice to live in the hope that if you are having one of the low Christmas times, that not all years will be the same. It is also important for us to remember that there is always something to be grateful for, no matter how much we think life has kicked us in the guts. It’s true to say that there’s always someone worse off than we are.

3 years ago, I was nearing the completion of my radiation treatment and was grateful to have the day off on Christmas Day. When I think back about that time, I have to say that much of it is a bit of a blur. No doubt I wasn’t very useful as a family member contributing to the organisation of Christmas Day celebrations but I am so grateful to my family for never making me realise that at the time.

Christmas Day is also a day where we like to look festive and beautiful and that can be a hard time for women going through treatment or just recovering from breast cancer. I remember the years of getting so excited thinking about what I’d wear on Christmas Day but 2013 didn’t have quite the same buzz for me. Looking back on the pics from Christmas Day 2013, I stumbled across this one of me and think I did pretty well to pull this dress off when my skin underneath was blistered and painful. Perhaps that’s why I was holding a bottle of Veuve! I think I can safely say I didn’t stay in the dress for long but it made me feel good to wear something I felt beautiful in.

If you are feeling much the same as I did, find your festive cheer and even if you don’t think you can last in your favourite Christmas frock, at least put it on for some part of the day. I can guarantee wearing something you love will do wonders for how you are feeling – then you can rip it off and relax when all the festivities are over.

So this Christmas Day 2016, I am grateful for everything I have in my life. I am grateful for the loves of my life Steve, Eddie & Max, the unfailing love from my family, my beautiful caring and loyal friends, my job that brings with it the most wonderful supportive friends, my home and the food on my table. I am grateful for the challenging experiences in my life – they have made me the stronger person that I am today.

I am grateful for beating cancer and I am grateful to you, my ‘Leave Me Breastless’ family who have believed in this cause so wholeheartedly and have continued to follow me and inspire me as I walk this new journey in my life to help breast cancer survivors start to feel amazing again! I am grateful for the selfless people like my sister Donaugh, my photographer Vanessa and my graphic designer Donna, who give hours to ‘Leave Me Breastless’ week after week and want nothing from this venture except to see it succeed.

So whatever the type of Christmas you have been offered this year, find the good in it. There is always something to be grateful for and gratitude is the key to happiness. What are you grateful for today?

This Christmas I am feeling amazing in this beautiful, stylish dress by Australian Designer Binny. This designer has some fantastic options for breastless women that will make you feel fantastic.