Survivorship

"I have almost forgotten that I went through breast cancer. Once in a while I think about a chance of it or another cancer reoccurring, but I just go on enjoying life and staying active."

“I am strong-willed and strong physically, which served me well during treatment and continues to serve me well. I am honored and grateful to still be here and be able to serve others.”

"In late July I found a lump as I woke up — my hands were cold and I put them in my armpits. Found a lump in my right breast ..."

"We have to accept there’s no going back. It’s either lemons or lemonade."

"My big fear came at every mammogram to follow for the next 5 years: that there would be a recurrence."

"I have spent practically half my life living with cancer and I am really thankful for each day. I feel more than fortunate to still be living a full and active life."

"My doctors told me not to do crossfit and pole dance due to lymph dissection. I disagreed with them. I believed that I could start again."

"Every twinge of pain or unfamiliar symptom reignites the fires of fear. Yet, standing strong in the face of uncertainty is the essence of resilience."

"I can cry, laugh, love — all of it. Or I can let it strip away the beautiful being I'm becoming. They are my choices to make."

"Strength was the little engine that could. But this is not what I felt. Instead, with fear, nausea, and exhaustion, I was emotionally bare as my head."

"I read one article about a woman who had ovarian cancer, and she said cancer has refined her. I resonated with her statement as I have changed many habits because of my cancer diagnosis."

"The diagnosis came and I already felt that I was being carried along. Faith really did see me through the worst and brought out the best in those around me."

"Throughout all of the treatment the hardest part was telling my children and parents."

"I had planted those carrots, but they didn’t sprout and grow in my time frames. They grew exactly when they should, how they should, in divine timing."

"It felt good to shed a few tears on my behalf as I never would allow anyone else to do it for me. Cancer, pain and fear can only really be owned by the person who lives with it."

"Sometimes good things can develop from what appears to be a horrible thing at first."

"I can still see myself sitting in that chair and the man that I thought was in love with me, and thought that were building a life. Then suddenly the bottom falls out of your life."

"No amount of regrets or second guessing was going to change anything, but what was I going to make out of it?"

"One oncologist told me it was a big, ugly cancer. He also said sometimes the big ugly ones are the easiest to kill."

"As I pounded the pavement, I pictured [the cancer cells] shaking their heads asking, 'WTF?,' pissed off and running out of steam as I filled my lungs with air and pressed on."

"After powering through this year with all I had, I didn’t even realize I had crossed the finish line."

"My challenge 8 years later has been the thought of possible reoccurrence. My faith has helped me live each day and kept positive thoughts upmost on a daily basis."

"For a moment, I felt like I had lost this fight. But I know now that I didn’t. I survived. And in surviving, I proved that even when the world tries to count you out, you can still rise."