Dr. Shani: You May Have Cancer, But Cancer Doesn’t Have You

Going through cancer treatment can be a blur and a whirlwind process.   You may feel that you’re getting funneled from one treatment to the next, with no time to stop and process what is actually going on, and with no time for yourself!   Local Portland, Oregon area doctor Shani Fox has made it her mission to change this typical process.  Unlike traditional doctors, Dr. Shani takes care of you holistically.  She practices naturopathic medicine in order to fix the root cause, not just bandage the symptoms.  For example, an oncologist will take care of a tumor, while Dr. Shani will take care of the rest of the person during treatment – physically and emotionally. 

As a naturopathic doctor, she looks past traditional treatment and wants to heal the whole person.   Each person has a different individual experience while undergoing treatment, so she looks for ways to properly nourish each patient to get sufficient nutrients based on the situation.  She also looks for ways to increase energy and help you recover while finding ways to prevent future cancer so you don’t have to go through this experience again.  Dr. Shani really is a doctor for the body, mind, and spirit. 

After meeting Dr. Shani over coffee at a local pancake house in SE Portland, she was dressed in her Barre3 gear and out and about on a Sunday morning. Yet despite her welcoming and casual attire, she was extremely professional, motivating and inspirational. Her knowledge of how to treat your body while experiencing such a traumatic journey was something that I gravitated toward immediately. 

She spoke of topics that us cancer survivors think about frequently – Is soy ok for you? What kind of exercise should I be doing? Any vitamins that I should take? Am I making the right health choices? And so much more.

Dr. Shani’s mission is to put you back in control of your life during cancer treatment, which is so incredibly important.  There is a weird thing that happens when you go for your last chemo or radiation treatment and you feel – “It’s done (thank God!)…I’m so happy, but now what? How do I keep fighting this to make sure it doesn’t come back?”

When asked to provide some words of wisdom to patients, Dr. Shani emphasized the fact that “you may have cancer, but cancer doesn’t have you.”  In order to regain control during this hectic time, you have to believe in that statement and believe in a healthy future after cancer.  In believing that there is life beyond this roadblock, you can put yourself back in control of your wellness. 

We’d like to thank Dr. Shani Fox for her incredible inspiration to women fighting pretty everywhere and for showing them that they do have options to consider during their treatment.   We encourage you all to learn more about Dr. Shani’s practice, watch her video or get in contact with her, by visiting her website: www.drshanifox.com.

Feeling the Love from Sock Dreams

Going through cancer treatment is uncomfortable in more ways than one. Lying on an exam table, getting chemo or going through a radiation treatment, there is always one thing that happens: your feet are always cold!

When we started choosing what special items to include in our Fighting Pretty Packages, a pair of fun, cozy, socks was a definite. Instead of relying on the hospital to give you those ugly slipper-socks, in years past, we’ve included all types of socks – fuzzy socks, leopard socks, heart socks and more. 

In late 2014 after Fighting Pretty ventured west to Portland, Oregon, founder Kara Dolce reached out to local sock company, Sock Dreams and magic happened. The team at Sock Dreams was immediately interested in helping women feel strong and beautiful through cancer treatment by donating 100 pairs of socks for our Pretty Packages.

They created one design with three colors: pink stripes, blue stripes and brown stripes. Initially, these “Fighting Pretty crew socks” were exclusively designed for our Pretty Packages, but due to popular demand, Sock Dreams included them as a product listing on their online website and will be donating 20% of the sale to Fighting Pretty! A true win-win for all!

We cannot thank the team at Sock Dreams enough for all of their love and support for women battling cancer everywhere. As we are sending beauty and strength in our Pretty Packages, Sock Dreams is the perfect partner to send the love!

If you would like to order a pair of Fighting Pretty crew socks, you can visit the Sock Dreams website: www.sockdreams.com or Order Here. And lastly, if you would like to order a Pretty Package that will include these socks, visit our website www.fightingpretty.org and click Request Form.

Though she be but little, she is fierce.

Meet Elizabeth Tague, an ex-college women’s rugby player and loving middle school math teacher who was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer at just 32 years old. Now, only four years later, Liz is living happy, healthy and cancer-free.

You may remember Liz from a prior Fighting Pretty blog post about “Pumping the Positivity.” Liz considered herself to be a healthy cancer patient who was going to do whatever it took to stay focused and beat breast cancer.  And she did it.

I knew Liz well before either of us were diagnosed with breast cancer. Liz and I played women’s rugby together during college and she was my mentor. My real big sister didn’t go to school with me, but Liz was there – to watch over me, protect me and teach me. She was always an inspiration.

After hearing of her diagnosis only a few years after my own, I was heartbroken for her. But I knew she had the fight in her to not only beat this horrible disease, but to challenge it with poise and vigor.

As our second woman featured as part of the Fighting Pretty Iconic Women series, Liz Tague is our fierce hero.

At the shoot held in New York City with photographer William Philbin, Liz chose a pearl necklace as an accessory to her already-bright wardrobe. It made her feel beautiful. As soon as she put the oversized pearls around her neck, her entire expression changed. Liz was Fighting Pretty.

Those pearls now belong to Liz, and you will frequently see her sporting them whenever she is celebrating her health, her triumph and her very happy and healthy life with her husband Brian.

Here’s to you Liz, may your February be full of love, and may you forever fight with ferocity as a woman who is truly Fighting Pretty.

Some women are lost in the fire. Others are built from it.

Meet Alexis, a 33-year-old woman who has not only survived a category 5 hurricane in the West Indies, and has persevered as a well respected cardiologist in New York, but continues her fight against a self-diagnosed Stage 4 battle against breast cancer.

After a late night conversation with photographer, William Philbin, he and I decided to do our very first photo-shoot to showcase amazing, strong, beautiful and powerful women as icons of what Fighting Pretty stood for. Alexis was an obvious choice, and thus, our first icon of Fighting Pretty.

Alexis D’Elia is the type of woman that is hard not to look at; there is an energy that surrounds her and an external glow that makes it impossible not to notice her. She is just so beautiful. After diving in to understand Alexis, and the life experiences she has endured, her strength is what creates this aura that makes her so glamorous, so enviable, and a true representation of inner strength and beauty.  

Alexis is Fighting Pretty.

Her drive to understand the human body gives her an edge that most of us don’t have – she knows her own body better than most doctors that are examining her, and her decisions to do what is best for the survival of her life are what makes her strength something we all strive for whenever faced with a fire. 

Others might be lost in it; she is built from it.

It’s her positivity and resilience to continue her fight that makes Alexis an incredible woman, and a woman that is truly powerful in more ways than one. 

Meet Alexis D’Elia, an iconic woman who is truly Fighting Pretty.

12-12 ~ A Day of Reflection

Exactly six years ago today, I heard the words "you have breast cancer." I was a 26-year-old advertising executive working and living in New York City. I couldn't believe my ears. I was too busy to have cancer! I was too young!

The next few moments, the world stopped. Why me? What was next? How is this happening?

The next two years were a whirlwind of examinations, surgeries, appointments, and side effects. But sprinkled throughout this entire experience was love, hope and strength.

I started dating Nate Dolce (my now husband) only five days before my diagnosis.
My sister threw a "Tata Party" a week before my mastectomy.
Nate and I shaved our heads together.
My mom and I sang and cried to "Crazy" after watching The Devil Wears Prada during a chemo weekend.
I rocked a bald head and bright lipstick after going through chemo, to my first work meeting with a hair-care client!
My best friends in the world sent me packages, came to surgeries, and kept my mind off cancer.
I fell in love with my best friend.

There was so much to fight for. Yet, going through it, a happy and healthy future seemed so far away.

Now, looking back on this time, I don't celebrate the day of my diagnosis. I reflect on it. I look at myself in the mirror and see a smarter woman, a stronger woman, and a more beautiful woman on the inside and out. Despite the surgeries, the loss of my breasts, and my 6-year old hair, I love who I am because I fought to become her.

Even six years after my "D-Day," I continue to be a woman who is forever Fighting Pretty.
And I ask that you fight, stay strong, and maybe even put on some lipstick to join the fight with me.

On this day and always, I send love to all who are starting their fight, currently in battle or have finished. You are all amazing women and I'm honored that you have allowed me and Fighting Pretty to be a part of your journey to health and happiness.

Meet Dana, a fabulous woman committed to helping you love your body, and love your self

Meet Dana Canneto, an Intuitive Health Coach and Body Relationship Expert.  After reconnecting with Kara Skaflestad, founder of Fighting Pretty, via Facebook, Kara could relate to Dana in more ways than one. They both have followed their hearts of helping others through their own issues and are both here to talk about it. Check out this personal and exclusive interview with Dana. And be sure to read until the end ~ Dana is offering a special discount for all women "Fighting Pretty!" 

The beautiful, Dana Canneto

KS: Dana, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me. You have been such an inspiration to many! Tell us a bit about what inspired you to start Dana Wellness?

DC: I started Dana Wellness after recovering from a battle with my health and relationship towards my body.  I always had a very unhealthy relationship to my body and in turn became very ill from it.  I dieted a lot throughout my college years and early 20's when I had a sudden 40lb. weight gain.  Nothing was working so I started to deprive myself and developed Anorexia which I battled for about seven years until I ended up very ill in the hospital. That moment was one of the scariest moments of my life.  It was the "dark night of the soul" moment when I finally woke up the fact that I needed help after calling 911 on myself. I was alone in my apartment and kept finding myself on the floor passed out and just so grateful that I woke up to be able to bring myself to safety. From then on it was a very long journey and couldn't find the help that I needed.  I had seen a therapist and nutritionist but it wasn't what i needed at the time. I have a strong intuition and something was telling me to do this on my own.  Through trial and error I was able to heal myself however throughout the process ran into many other roadblocks with my health due to the damage I had already done to my body.   I was learning how important not just food and lifestyle was to our health but also our thought patterns and ways of thinking.   I am so incredibly passionate about my work and I believe every single women deserves to heal the quiet erosion she feels when it comes to her body and my mission is to share my journey and wisdom with as many women as possible so that they can live with a sense of freedom in their body and love for who they are in their entirety! 

KS: Tell us a bit more about your company. What kind of services does Dana Wellness provide and how can it help women who are Fighting Pretty?

DC: I provide programs for women who are having challenges with their own body whether it be body image, health challenges, food intolerances weight, self-worth or all of the above.  My most popular program is my 90-day program called Body Divinity that I have going on right now but I also offer straight up personal coaching sessions by the package.

This type of work cannot be done with one single session as there is maintenance involved. Each program is very personalized yet also includes the steps I took towards healing my relationship to my body and towards myself.  I work with several modalities from nutrition counseling, transformational coaching and energy healing which works to release anything that might be holding a person back from truly stepping into a place of power when it comes their body. I teach women how to cultivate that loving relationship with their body no matter what. I assist them in changing their mindset around their body and the way in which they feed their body on a physical and soulful level.  I also teach my clients how to truly listen to their body.  Our bodies are talking to us everyday and often times, we're not listening.  We are rushing through life always thinking with our heads and rarely tapping into the body for the wisdom she has for us.   As you can see, I talk about the body in the 3rd person which is one of the ways I began to transform my body back to health and heal my relationship towards her into this loving sacred place.  The wisdom of the body allows us to know what the body requires when it comes to food, sleep, exercise, pleasure, enjoyment, relaxation and rest, to name a few. The power of our bodies is so crucial to life and how we go about it. 

KS: How have you helped other women? 

DC: I have helped women love their body again and release the negative self talk as well as helped women heal their body from any discomfort they are feeling through changing their diet and often times weight loss if that is their goal. I have helped them see where these beliefs first came into their life around their body so they can begin to release them through inner child work.  In fact, I have had several clients work with me around their weight and usually around the 2nd or 3rd week they say that the weight was secondary to them.  They began to notice a new sense of love and respect for their body that felt so freeing that the weight was secondary.  That is one of the key secret to any weight loss or health regime.  We need to love our body first...THEN our bodies begin to transform.  It look me a long time to understand that and so once I figured it out and I saw my body begin to transform, that is what I now teach in my programs.  I also have helped my clients determine if they have food intolerances which can effect not just the physical body but the mental and emotional body as well. This for them, is life changing!  I am very intuitive when it comes to pinpointing what might be going on with their body that is causing them to feel drained, tired, foggy and have specific symptoms and it usually turns out to be specific foods they are eating that are causing a toxic reaction to their body.  I don't believe in dieting. I believe in living life with a sense of quality in food, lifestyle and mindset, living from a space of mind, body, spirit! You can also check out some of the testimonials on my website! 

KS: Many women face surgeries and other body issues due to cancer. What is your best advice about feeling insecure about your own body?

DC: To know that whatever negative thoughts you are thinking or feeling about your body are not true! If you are self-sabotaging your body and saying something about her that you don't like, stop for a moment and ask yourself where that belief is coming from.  More than likely it is not your belief but a belief you picked up somewhere based on "expectations" of how we should look. We are ALL beautiful!  Beauty begins from the inside out and when we can all walk from this place of power in our body and with confidence, look out world!! 

KS: How did you get introduced to Fighting Pretty?

DC: I got introduced to Fighting Pretty from you! (Kara) - and looking back is such a beautiful story!  We met back in 2006 at an advertising agency we both worked at.  I had the joy of being able to work with you closely at one point.  Little did I know then that we were both on similar paths in the way that we both knew advertising was not our passion.  That's when life both handed us opportunities to find our purpose and our way towards living out a desire we have always dreamed which is contributing to the world in some positive way.  As a mentor of mine always says, "It's not always pretty but it's always beautiful" when we have to walk the journey ourselves first towards a place of healing in order to heal others!  I don't regret my journey for a minute.  I am so grateful for what you are doing, Kara. When I met you back then, I remember being so inspired by your ability to infuse joy and laughter in all that you did even when we were going through the roughest times at work...you always had a smile so it does not surprise me when I see you here now, doing this work and sharing your laughter, joy, charisma and inspiration with the world!  I feel honored to know you and be here in this space with you right now. 

KS: Wow, Dana, you have brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for your kind words. It's my honor to provide strength and love to those battling cancer. Thank you for all that you do and taking the time to chat with me! 

DC: It is my pleasure Kara. I would love to give a special discount for women "Fighting Pretty" by providing 20% off my 7 session package of personal coaching.  If you are interested, contact me here, or just visit my website: www.danawellness.com and we can set up a meeting.