A post with a little bit of everything

So today I guess I have a lot to say haha.  Now since this is supposed to be a beauty blog, I guess I will start off with the makeup portion.

I have been doing so much better wearing color.  I'm proud of myself for getting back into it a little bit more. Still nothing crazy but I've definitely been playing more.  This is just a basic green look that I did.

What I used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

All eyeshadows by Makeup Geek:

"Poison Ivy" all over lid

"Shimmermint" on inner 2/3 of lid

"Envy" on outer 1/3 and outer v area

"Corrupt" to darken outer v

"Latte" to blend up 

"Bling" as highlight color

I liked this look.  I thought it was pretty and wearable but still had a little punch of color.

Now I don't think I ever told you guys that in January I had a CT scan done.  It's always so nerve-wracking to have one done.  The last thing you want to hear is that they found something.  As much as I felt they weren't going to find anything, especially since I had just finished my IV chemo, you just never know.  So I met with my liver surgeon to go over the results and he came back and said everything is good.  My CT scan review read, "no evidence of metastatic disease."  I was thrilled.  And then he told me that I could continue doing my follow-up scans closer to home if I wanted to and that I could forget he ever existed.  I told him that it is impossible for me to forget he existed one, because he helped save my life, and two because I have some nice scars from him on my belly.  

I'm really self-conscious to do this, but I'm going to show you my tummy so you can see what I mean when I say I can never forget him haha. So here it is:

The top scar is from my liver surgery.  As you can see, it's a pretty decent sized scar.  It goes up a little more than what you can see.  The lower scar is from my left hemicolectomy and that goes down a little farther than my pants line.  And then the random other little scars are either from my laproscopic surgery for my bowel obstruction or they're from drains from the more major surgeries.  I'm lucky that apparently I'm a good healer.  My scars have faded a lot.  The lower scar is a little over a year old and it's really not terribly visible.

I am not embarrassed of my scars or of anything I've gone through.  I'm just not a belly show-er haha.  

Now, on the day I got my CT scan results back, I was so happy.  Until I went on facebook to post about it. There I saw that my husband's cousin had lost a friend to cervical cancer that same day.  It is unbelievably difficult to be happy for yourself when someone else just lost their fight.  And this is something I'm really really struggling with.  I'm so so grateful for being cancer-free but I cannot understand why I am and other people aren't.  Why did I respond so well to chemo and other people don't?  I mean, yeah, I fought, but they fought just as hard as I did.  Yeah, my family needs me but their families need them too.  I almost feel guilty for being healthy when other people who have been through the same thing I have aren't responding the same way I did.

But I am doing everything in my own personal power to make sure my cancer doesn't come back.  As I said in my last post, I've changed the way I eat and have started juicing and drinking a lot of green smoothies.  So I thought I'd share one of my favorite juice recipes with you!  I'm telling you, it's soooo yummy.

What it calls for:

4 oranges, peeled

1 medium sweet potato (you can peel it if you want, but I leave the skin on for the nutrients)

3 stalks of celery

a chunk of ginger

Juice them all up and here's what you get!

Why is this juice good for you?

Oranges support your immune system, combat cancer, protect your heart, and support respiration.  Sweet potatoes protect your eyesight (better than carrots, even), combat cancer, lift your mood, and strengthen your bones.  Celery fights cancer, lowers cholesterol, aids digestion, alkalizes the blood, lowers blood pressure.  And ginger fights nausea, maintains normal blood circulation, strengthens immunity.  All of these ingredients do so much more than what I've listed.

And the main difference between juicing and smoothies is that with juicing, you remove all of the fiber.  There are debates all of the time about what's actually best for you.  I do both so there's no debate for me haha.  Juicing helps you to directly absorb the macro-nutrients in whatever you've juiced since your body doesn't have to break it down.  This is great for people who have digestive issues.  One of the benefits of smoothies is the fact that it does have the fiber and it slows the rate at which you absorb the sugars and your blood sugar won't spike like it could with a juice.

One of my followers, Sylvia, suggested I read "Eat to Live" and I fully intend on doing that!  Any other recommendations are more than welcome!  I really feel blessed that I've had support in learning what foods can do for me.  One of my friends actually got her certification in holistic nutrition and she has been incredibly helpful to me.  I'm always asking her questions haha.  I've just been so frustrated with the fact that I specifically have asked all of my doctors and the dietitian at the cancer center if there were foods that could help and they all told me no, that nothing had been proven.  I've learned differently.  I was not looking to substitute the chemo, I just wanted something in addition to the chemo to help my odds.

I want to thank you all for being so amazing to me throughout everything I've been through.  Your support has meant more to me than I could ever explain to you!  Thank you all so much!  I hope you're having a great week!