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Posts tagged with “cancer”

My Cat Had Cancer and Taught Me How to Cope with Illness

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“A cat purring on your lap is more healing than any drug in the world, as the vibrations you are receiving are of pure love and contentment.” ~St. Francis of Assisi

We all know what it is like to be sick. At some point in our lives we get the flu or a bad cold, but we know the course—get lots of rest and before you know it you are as good as new. But for some of us, we live with chronic illness.

Chronic illness brings with it day-to-day symptoms, the ones you cannot get away from. Coping with …

How to Love Yourself Through Cancer or Any Other Terrifying Diagnosis

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“If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.” ~Frank Lane

One minute your life is just humming along, and out of nowhere you’re hit with a devastating diagnosis. Cancer.

Believe me, I know what it’s like to get the news you have cancer and to live with the trauma that follows, because I’m not only a licensed psychotherapist, I’ve been treated for both breast cancer and leukemia.

I know how that diagnosis changes everything. I know how the world around you can still look the same, but suddenly you feel like a stranger in your …

Why Cancer Was the Beginning of My Life, Not the End

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“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

Cancer.

I’ll never forget the moment the words fell from my doctor’s mouth. In one fell swoop, the “perfect” persona that I’d spent thirty-plus years carefully constructing received what would ultimately become a fatal blow. Following that fateful day of demarcation, my life would never again be the same.

But let me back up a bit.

By the time I’d arrived at my early thirties, I was cloaked in all the trappings of outward success: a lucrative career in the high-paced, high-stress …

5 Ways I’ve Lived Life More Fully Since My Cancer Scare

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“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~Albert Einstein

A few months ago, I had my first mammogram. I have two first cousins who died of breast cancer very young, as well as an aunt that recently passed away from the disease, so I started my mammograms a bit earlier than most.

This mammogram was quite routine, except that a few days later they asked me to come back for another one, as well as an ultrasound. This second visit was …

6 Lessons from a Cancer Survivor to Help You Get Through Anything

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“Oh, my friend, it’s not what they take away from you that counts—it’s what you do with what you have left.” ~Hubert Humphrey

Last year I was diagnosed with breast cancer three weeks after my wedding, at twenty-seven years old. After months of grueling chemotherapy treatments, I am now recovering from surgery and can look back with tremendous appreciation at what my body has accomplished.

One question I get, after the gasps and looks of incredulity have faded, is how I got through it all.

Now, for a long time, my toughest challenges in life were those brought on by …

5 Lessons on Living Life Fully from a Breast Cancer Survivor

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“We all have two lives. The second one begins when we realize we only have one.” ~Confucius

When I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in September 2014 I tried to spin this life curveball on its ugly head and find some lessons from this journey.

That’s how I dealt with the blow.

The truth is, I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me. I never wanted to be a victim.

I wanted to be a survivor from day dot.

Throughout this process I learned five powerful lessons that I’d like to share with you so that you …

Students Sing “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” to Teacher Diagnosed with Cancer

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When Adriana Lopez’s students serenaded her with the song I’m Gonna Love Through It, after she received a breast cancer diagnosis, they brought her to tears. And I can see why—they brought me to tears too!

Lessons from Almost Dying: How to Appreciate the Everyday Awesome

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“We’re so busy watching out for what’s just ahead of us that we don’t take time to enjoy where we are.” ~Bill Watterson

“Rare as hell.” That’s how my doctor described my leukemia.

The cancer had gotten real aggressive, real quick, and I’d need some heavy-duty chemo and a risky bone marrow transplant if I had any chance of surviving. How good a chance? “Forty to fifty percent,” said my doctor.

Oof.

As an otherwise healthy twenty-seven-year-old, cancer had been the furthest thing from my mind. Now, every waking thought was consumed by it. But I wasn’t ready to die. …

You Have the Strength and Wisdom to Thrive Through Hard Times

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“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Nothing can ever really prepare you for a cancer diagnosis, but it can quickly turn your life into an unplanned story.

Diagnosed at the age of twenty-eight with ocular melanoma, I was treated with surgery and proton beam therapy, and gratefully continued on with my life (though certainly a changed person).

But every year I went for a MRI of my liver/abdomen because if ocular melanoma spreads, it most likely goes to the liver. And every year when I …

Keep Hope Alive: How To Help Someone Who’s Struggling

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“He who has health has hope and he who has hope has everything.” ~Proverb

I write this today seemingly healthy.

My doctors say I’m healthy. I feel healthy. I look healthy. But over the last six months this was not the case.

In April of this year I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Melanoma. I am thirty-five years old. I am a wife and a mother to a four-year-old and six-year-old. I have my own business. I am busy. I did not have time for cancer.

But cancer had time for me.

I’ll never forget the day that I got …

Grandma Betty: Inspiring 81-Year-Old Instagram Celebrity

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She’s a “simple southern girl” who exudes joy, positivity, and hope, in spite of her lung cancer diagnosis—and in spite of having lost both her husband and daughter to cancer.

Grandma Betty has inspired more than half-a-million followers on Instagram with her infectious energy and smile. And now perhaps she’ll inspire you. She’s certainly inspired me.

When asked why she’s so happy, Grandma Betty responded, “I’m happy cause I’m living. And I’m taking one breath at a time. I don’t take no more. I take one breath and one step at a time.”

It’s a message we all need to …

A Flash Mob of Love for a Terminal Cancer Patient

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In 2012, Amy was diagnosed with stage 3C metastatic cancer. After surgery and months of chemo, her family thought she was in the clear.

Recently, the family learned the cancer returned, and this time it would be terminal.

On the day before Amy’s fifty-sixth birthday, fifty of her closest family members and friends gathered together to show her—flash mob-style—that she’s surrounded by love.

If you’re anything like me, this video may put tears in your eyes and a smile on your face!

Emily’s Hair: The Tale of an Inspiring 3-Year-Old

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At three year old, Emily had hair long enough to make a wig for a child with cancer. In this short clip, she tells us why she decided to do it. To learn more about this adorable, inspiring little girl, visit flypressfilms.com.

A Man, a Pink Tutu, and His Smiling Wife, Who’s Undergoing Chemo

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One woman. One cancer diagnosis. One man. One pink tutu. One inspiring mission. More smiles than can possibly be counted. Bob Carey, you are my new hero.

Happiness Doesn’t Make Us Grateful; Gratitude Makes Us Happy

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“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” ~Brother David Steindl-Rast

A few years ago, my life was chaotic. I drank too much, slept too little, and always went with the flow. I didn’t look out for myself emotionally and physically. I burned the candle at both ends and eventually wore myself out.

I often felt depressed. After my parents’ divorce when I was 18, I lost the closeness I used to feel with my family. My entire focus was on what I didn’t have anymore.

I …

3 Lessons to Help You Find Peace When Fighting a Hard Battle

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“He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything.” ~Proverb

August 3, 2001. I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was around six o’clock in the evening when she sat us down. Luther Vandross was singing in the background on the radio: “And it’s so amazing and amazing, I can stay forever and forever. Here in love and no, leave you never.”

Quite ironic when you think about the news I would soon receive.

I had just finished summer school and my sister had just returned from an internship on the East Coast. My …

Flash Mob of Cancer Survivors: Closer to Free

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I’m a huge fan of flash mobs. There’s something about a seemingly random, slow-building display of mass creativity and joy that never fails to make me smile. This one, featuring a group of cancer survivors and a children’s choir, gave me goosebumps. Beautiful voices. Beautiful spirit. Beautiful message of hope.