Sami Danis- Health & Fitness

What a difference a year can make 🙏🏻🩷

3 weeks out from my elective double mastectomy surgery (see my previous post if you missed it). I’m nervous & anxious, but I think I’m as ready as one can possibly be for such a major life decision.

The work that’s gone into making me mentally and physically stronger over the last year is immeasurable. The changes, the growth, the healing. You’ve seen merely a glimpse of it all, and I’m so thankful for your constant support in my inbox.

“I think the most beautiful thing in the world is watching the light come on in someone’s eyes when they’ve been lost in the dark for so long.” xo

If heaven has slot machines, Diet Pepsi, a tricky puzzle, and country music playing just a little too loud— there’s one happy lady up there today.

Happy heavenly birthday, Mom 💛

This post has been 8+ years in the making 🥹❤️

I started using this platform almost a decade ago to document my journey as a young woman with the BRCA-1 gene mutation— an inherited mutation to our “tumor suppressing genes”, making me up to 85% more susceptible to developing breast and ovarian cancer in my lifetime.

After losing my mom to ovarian cancer at 19, I promised to make the appointments, do the scans, and be on the right side of the statistics. And since 28 years old, I’ve done just that.

Mammograms, MRIs, ultrasounds, cancer scares, biopsies, waiting for results every 6 months for 8 long, mentally exhausting years.

And I finally got my last *all clear* scan last week & approval to finally close this chapter— I’ll be having an elective double mastectomy in September 🙏🏻💛

Drastic? Maybe.
Unnecessary? Could be.
Trust me, I’ve heard it all already.

But I’ve held my mom’s hand while she took her last breath when she was just 9 years older than me, & I’ll be damned if I don’t do everything to keep my kids from experiencing that kind of lifelong pain.

She would’ve too 💕

I remember every moment of this journey vividly. The initial call with the gene testing results. The first time I felt a lump that left me sobbing in the shower. 12 weeks pregnant with my son hearing things like “treatment” & “decide what to do about the pregnancy” from my first real scare (and a really tactless radiologist). Crying in my doctor’s arms in the hospital parking lot last summer when they saw something in both breasts that day.

I’m tired.

Although the hardest part of this is still ahead for me, I have never been more ready to turn the damn page.

Yes, my plan is to take you with me while I navigate all this— how in-depth and comfortable I am/what level of sharing is TBD. My hope has always been to find a reason for all this & sharing my experiences and helping others feel less alone has been so healing ❤️

To my people: thank you for being here. The love, support, & positivity when I couldn’t muster anymore. You have no idea what you’ve done for me 🥹

Now it’s time to do this for myself.
Because I’m ready to have my life back.

Let’s. Freaking. Go. 👊🏻

All I can tell you is… it’s worth it.

Being brave.
Putting yourself out there.
Following your heart.
Letting down your walls.
Risking failure.
Exploring new opportunities.
Choosing courage over fear.

Giving yourself a chance to discover what’s out there in this world for you.

Even the stories that don’t end in happily ever after, they’re still worth telling. The pain you feel as a consequence of being a tender-hearted human in a heavy world. The hope that sometimes ends in heartbreak. The really hard parts of living.

Loving is worth it.
Feeling is worth it.
Trying is worth it.

Not holding back. Not minimizing yourself or your dreams. Not always taking the safe and easy road when your heart is pulling you in a different direction.

It’s worth it.
You’re worth it.

Time is fleeting and your energy is sacred. Don’t deny yourself the chance to truly live. -Zanna Keithley

“You’ve been through a thousand things in your life that people don’t even know about.

You’ve experienced things that have shook you, changed you, broke you, built you, and taught you to be stronger than you ever thought you had the ability to be. And you are who you are for all of it.

So the next time someone judges you based on a small part of what they see and how they interpret that, remember who you are.

Remember how much you’ve overcome.

And smile and keep walking because you don’t have a single thing to prove to anyone else.

You’ve already proven so much to yourself— the one who muddled through the storms that people didn’t even see because of how you carried yourself.” 💛

This little hug while we were in the checkout line 🥹😩 Kids can take so much from us & somehow, in an instant, give it all back 🥲

Didn’t realize how much I needed that ❤️

If it’s not making me happy, making me money, or making me better— I’m busy 🖤⚡️

Half of me will always be in my hometown 🩷

36 🥳 (yesterday!)

Since I already thought I was 36 (🙄🤣), I’m taking this as a chance for a do-over. The last year was one of my toughest, but I learned a lot— about the world, other people, myself.

I spent the better part of it just in the trenches of my life, slowly crawling my way through the mud and mess. But I still had so many bright spots along the way, and I can start to see solid ground ahead for me 💛

Cheers to another freaking year and another opportunity to do it better!

Keep blooming, baby 🌱✨