My biggest wish for my sister survivors - to really LIVE

Hearing the words “you have cancer” is definitely a life-altering experience. It's a moment that adds a foot-note to your life of before, and after.

The moment you hear those words, you're a Survivor. From the emotional toll to the externally obvious physical toll, you persevere. For many, life is just survival.

I spent a lot of years just surviving my life. And that was before cancer. Burnout taught me to make changes to how I did things so that I would actually enjoy my life again. Then cancer threatened to take me right back into survival mode, and I was pissed off about it.

That very weekend after being told, I journaled constantly. I took a ride on my road bike and got lost in thought. I decided how I wanted this to look for my kids, who were 13 and 15. 

I wanted to be an example of resilience for them, emotionally and physically. I didn't want to sugarcoat it, I wanted to be real with them - they were old enough to experience a good portion of the reality of my situation.

Most of all, I wanted to show them what it was like to go through a truly really difficult time, and still have happiness, joy and fun. I wanted to cheer them on at soccer games and swim meets. Have them see me go for mt bike rides and smell flowers. 

I wanted them to see me LIVE not just survive, for however long it took me to get through this. And I decided that before I even got my biopsy results. That decision has carried me through to this moment, 3 years and 2 months later while I recover from my most recent cancer related surgery.

I can't wait to get back on my bike, back into the woods, back into the river… and in the meantime I'll smell the flowers and look for four leaf clovers 🍀 in my yard. I'll enjoy a late May fire on the patio we built while I was going through chemo. 

I see so many of my breast cancer sisters unable to enjoy living while going through treatment, and I’m working to change that. My support group is free and meets every month. I'm also opening up more opportunities for 1:1 coaching so that I can really teach the skills I've learned that helped me so much. 

I don't want you to simply survive, I want you to really LIVE 🩷