About Me

My name is Holly. I am a breast cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer Sept 30, 2013. I was only in my early 30's. I underwent very aggressive treatment because the form of cancer I had was very aggressive and rapidly growing. Within probably 2-3 weeks I underwent tons of testing and then started chemo. I was on Cytotoxin and Adramycin for four treatments and then Taxol for four more treatments. I was going through chemo every other week for four months. As soon as I was done with chemo and four weeks out from my last treatment I went through a bilateral mastectomy. Following the mastectomy i had to go through physical therapy so that I could get in position to start my radiation treatments. Once my radiation treatments started I had to have 33 treatments done. I finished the treatment portion of my cancer adventure in may of 2014. I have recently gone through a very long and extensive surgery for reconstruction. I still possibly have at least one more surgery to go before I can put this cancer nightmare behind me. I will say that I am not glad I had to go through cancer, but I am very appreciative of the journey. I am glad that it was me who had to go through this instead of someone who may not have been strong enough to fight it. I believe that God had put me on that journey to make me closer to him, make me stronger, and put me in the position I am in today.

After my radiation treatments ended I had some radiation burn a couple spots worse than others. I reached out to a fellow breast cancer survivor to ask for her advice. She recommended that I get some lavender essential oil and mix it in with what I was already using to hydrate my skin. I had been using a mixture of Aquaphor, pure vitamin E oil, and pure aloe, then added in the lavender oil. Radiation burn takes months for the redness to go down, by using this mixture it only took me 2-3 weeks. Since the lavender oil worked so well I started to research essential oils and their benefits. When dealing with cancer you see a ton of studies of what could possibly be causing cancer. After reading quite a few of these studies it became aware to me that most carcinogens were chemicals. These chemicals are very prevalent in our everyday world around us as we digest them, put them on our bodies, and we inhale them DAILY. I decided that I wanted to start living cleaner so I researched ways to do so. Suggestions were to eat organic foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, and decreasing the toxins and chemicals as much as possible. While I was researching I kept seeing what the benefits of 100% pure, authentic grade oils could bring me. I started to research where I could purchase these high grade oils. The name that kept popping up was Young Living Essential Oils. I researched their company and grew to really like it. I decided that I would become a member and start using the oils. I have now been using the oils and other products since August and am loving what they do.

I tell you all the above so you have a background for this blog. My intent is to post about ideas and tips on how to reduce toxins and chemicals in our lives.