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I’m an open book. I hope you can connect with even just one of the many pages.

 
Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

A Cancer Survivor's Guide To Avoid Becoming A Hypochondriac

You had cancer, and now you don't, or it's being managed with the right medications. You wake up to a strange rash or new pain. Do you instantly panic and assume it has to be something serious? Because, I mean, you've had cancer, so it's not like you're in the ninety-ninth percentile of people who get the weird symptom, and it turns out to be nothing. It would be easy and quite understandable for you to turn a bug bite into lymphoma in your mind. So, how do you keep from making a mountain out of a molehill? …

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

New Year, same ever evolving me

Every year that passes, I get more and more comfortable with my disabled body and what it takes to keep it moving. It's a gift really, getting to spend years with this body that survived cancer twice. Learning to love it for all it's gotten me through. When December thirty first comes around, I see it a little differently than I once did. I could make a million New Year's resolutions influenced by the targeted ads on my social media accounts, but I doubt a single one of them would give me any kind of sustained happiness. They never did in the past. So, I prefer to set intentions…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Merry Messy Christmas

If you're reading this the day it was released, Merry Christmas Eve. I hope you are full of holiday sparkle and coquito. But if you're not, because you're having one of those Decembers where you feel like the last, lonely gingerbread house on the shelf, cracked all over and hanging on by a stitch of icing, you aren't alone. There is so much pressure to have a perfect Christmas, but the truth is most Christmases aren't perfect at all, and some, well, some suck…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

In Loving memory

Last Sunday, there was no blog. I couldn't quite find the words to say what was on my mind because you were gone. And no amount of knowing it was coming was enough to soften the blow. My cheerleader, who faithfully read all my blog posts and held me as I cried before surgery, my aunt, was taken away from us by the one thing I wish never tied us together…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Dopamine Decorating My Way Through December

If you're in a funk or a biopsy waiting period, you might want to try a little something called dopamine decorating. The latest feel-good at home trend might be just what you need to distract yourself with a project and create a space with healing, happy energy. Now that the Holidays are here, it's the perfect time to top that Christmas tree with a disco ball instead of the same plain star you use every year…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Trigger Troubles

Do you ever find yourself wandering happily through your day just to be slapped with an alarming reminder of your trauma in the form of a hospital hand soap smell or a strange-toned voicemail from your doctor? Like you almost forgot you've been through hell when suddenly it gets a little too hot in the room, and you are triggered…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

I’m Not In Control. Now What?

Feeling a lack of control is like snapping the ball with your eyes closed during the playoffs. Like you're betting it all, your body, your mind, your future, on a Hail Mary…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

All the things I never thought I'd say until I lost my leg

Recently, I stopped to think about how different life is now that I'm an amputee. I'm pretty acclimated nearly four years in. But sometimes, I catch myself saying and doing things that would have seemed wild to two-legged Alex. Life is funny that way. It sends you in all sorts of twisted directions…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Amputee Post-Travel ThOUGHTS

I just returned from an eight-day trip across two states and three cities. Although I used all the tips I shared with you in last week's blog for packing, planning, and airport travel day, I now realize I should have mentioned the single most important thing every amputee needs to remember to do when traveling - take breaks…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Travel Prep-Amputee Style

My wanderlust has shaped me into someone who takes a full 3-5 business days to prep for any travel so that I can get the most out of my experience, and that includes getting the outfits right. Since losing my right leg, I've had to step up my prep game even more. Here are my tips and tricks for the ultimate trip…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

The world is up in arms. Is it OK to keep my positivity train going?

The Israel-Hamas war is escalating, and unspeakable violence is tearing families apart. Today, I was afraid to spend time on social media for fear I might see these atrocious acts on film. I was afraid to see what other people are already living. Here in the US, Halloween activities are in full swing, football season is upon us, and life is pretty much going as planned…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Living life in the in-betweens

So you have a suspicious ache In the spot where your tumor used to be, but you can't get an appointment with your oncologist for another three weeks. You have your quarterly scan, and it turns out you need a biopsy to rule out more disease, but the OR isn't for another month. What do you do with your in-betweens? …

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