Being a cancer survivor has opened up a lot of encouraging
support to me from complete strangers that watched me struggle through
treatment. From the conductor on the Metrolink to the passengers on the
way to work to the Head of the Maintenance Dept at UCIMC who rode the
same train to shop owners from which I bought my collection of scarves
and hats to grocery store clerks to neighbors to friends of my
hairdresser to friends I've made through the years online. The
encouragement I received was truly humbling.
I did not find going through cancer treatment scary. Instead I was blessed with a positive and optimistic attitude throughout the experience. I was not afraid. I had made my peace with God and asked only that he take care of my mother.
My mother is the real reason I am alive. Without her determination, care and support I could not have made it. Alone my mother carried most of my weight at 4am to the nearest bus stop which was 2 miles away. Helped me onto the bus that took us to the Metrolink that took us to Orange to the bus that took us to UCIMC. We walked approximately 4 blocks from the bus to the Cancer Center. Where she sat by my side through 6 hours of chemotherapy. Never leaving me. Then supporting my more weakened body back to the bus that took us to the Metrolink that took us to the bus that took us 2 miles from home where she supported me as I walked those 2 miles and up the flight of stairs to our home. The next few days she would bring me chicken noodle soup, smoothies, water, Prosure...anything I could hold down. When I couldn't sleep she would lay next to me until I fell asleep.
Two male friends called me nearly every other day. It was football season. They each would tell me game highlights and tell me jokes until I fell asleep again. They are the best friends anyone can imagine having.
Emerging from that experience I found myself speaking to various woman friends, colleagues, neighbors, and strangers about how truly amazing the experience had been for me. How cancer treatment did not have to be scary. How I survived against very strong odds (I had a 50/50 chance of survival.). How much I learned about myself from within and without.
What is possible now that can return your body back to you (I jokingly call myself the Bride of Frankenstein. But I mean that in the sense of being taken apart and put back together again. TRULY I AM A MEDICAL MIRACLE.)
Through it all my faith never faltered. Though I did not pray for my own survival. I knew with my will alone I would succeed or not. My only prayers were for my mother...that she will be taken care of with my passing.
In life, I have never doubted or questionned the purpose of my life. I have always known. Throughout my life I have been constantly moving in that direction through every path imaginable. That purpose did not change when I found I had cancer. It gave me more clarity to seek a broader reaching path.
I did not find going through cancer treatment scary. Instead I was blessed with a positive and optimistic attitude throughout the experience. I was not afraid. I had made my peace with God and asked only that he take care of my mother.
My mother is the real reason I am alive. Without her determination, care and support I could not have made it. Alone my mother carried most of my weight at 4am to the nearest bus stop which was 2 miles away. Helped me onto the bus that took us to the Metrolink that took us to Orange to the bus that took us to UCIMC. We walked approximately 4 blocks from the bus to the Cancer Center. Where she sat by my side through 6 hours of chemotherapy. Never leaving me. Then supporting my more weakened body back to the bus that took us to the Metrolink that took us to the bus that took us 2 miles from home where she supported me as I walked those 2 miles and up the flight of stairs to our home. The next few days she would bring me chicken noodle soup, smoothies, water, Prosure...anything I could hold down. When I couldn't sleep she would lay next to me until I fell asleep.
Two male friends called me nearly every other day. It was football season. They each would tell me game highlights and tell me jokes until I fell asleep again. They are the best friends anyone can imagine having.
Emerging from that experience I found myself speaking to various woman friends, colleagues, neighbors, and strangers about how truly amazing the experience had been for me. How cancer treatment did not have to be scary. How I survived against very strong odds (I had a 50/50 chance of survival.). How much I learned about myself from within and without.
What is possible now that can return your body back to you (I jokingly call myself the Bride of Frankenstein. But I mean that in the sense of being taken apart and put back together again. TRULY I AM A MEDICAL MIRACLE.)
Through it all my faith never faltered. Though I did not pray for my own survival. I knew with my will alone I would succeed or not. My only prayers were for my mother...that she will be taken care of with my passing.
In life, I have never doubted or questionned the purpose of my life. I have always known. Throughout my life I have been constantly moving in that direction through every path imaginable. That purpose did not change when I found I had cancer. It gave me more clarity to seek a broader reaching path.
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