I started my blogging journey about 4 years ago. Originally, I planned to focus on juggling life as a woman with type 1 diabetes (T1D), married to a husband with ADHD and parenting an adopted child with a lot of trauma. I hoped to share what I’ve learned, how I cope and the hobbies that keep me sane. Then I was diagnosed with breast cancer and life as I knew it was thrown into an even bigger tailspin. As a healthcare professional, I research EVERYTHING, and I could not find a single bit of information about having T1D and dealing with cancer and its treatments. As if that wasn’t enough, there is definitely a reason that people {sarcastically} call cancer ‘the gift that keeps on giving’.
I hope that by sharing my complicated life with others through Her Secret Sauce, I can help people who might be facing some of the same challenges as me. I named my blog this since I’ve been called the ‘secret sauce’ a few times throughout my life.
This is the definition of ‘secret sauce’ from Merriam-Webster.com:
an element, quality, ability, or practice that makes something or someone successful or distinctive
Through my struggles, I have learned a lot about myself, others, the healthcare system, and the fact that women really have to advocate for themselves and their families. I hope that others might find strength and hope in reading about my experiences, and to become unafraid to speak up when things don’t make sense or aren’t explained in a way that you understand.
I’ve also come to appreciate how gratitude really helps me get through the tough times. Despite having a gratitude journal for a long time, I never quite appreciated its importance until the past few years, and though I’m not a dedicated journaler, you will see that I try to weave gratitude into my posts when I can. And as someone with a dry and sarcastic sense of humor, I try to see the funny side of all of these things that I’ve experienced. My good friend J and I often joke about our use of dark humor to get through the rough spots. I’ll share some of the crazy thoughts that we share with each other so that you know you’re not alone.
Thanks so much for checking out my blog and I look forward to hearing from you! Since I’ve been planning this blog for a long time, I’ve got a bunch of content that I’ve written the past few years that I plan to publish in batches based on topic so please let me know what you’re most interested in hearing about!