Survivorship

When my oncologist wanted to start me on a standard treatment, I asked her why. She said some of her other patients had gotten it. She was basing my life on someone else’s results? This survivor decided to seek other opinions and became her own advocate.

Getting back up matters when cancer knocks you down, but so does pausing for reflection.

Breast cancer was one of the best things that ever happened to me – and I never want it again. Now I am cancer-free and living a more fulfilling life than before the illness. Here are 10 insights and experiences from my cancer journey that continue to sustain me professionally and personally.

A nine-year breast cancer survivor and five-year melanoma survivor shares her thoughts on cancer survivorship with a side of mid-life crisis.

Like opposing wind fronts my emotions collided, spinning off a funnel of survivor guilt on a day I never thought would come.

Here are three things I learned to avoid when recovering from cancer treatment.

Making the choice to get busy living is often difficult for those with cancer, but the choice to start living your best life can be a good one. Each person must decide what that life looks like and when it’s time to start living it.

Evading the cancer issue is much easier.

In some cases, choosing the mundane can be life-giving, help salve emotional hurts and anchor our lives.

Isn’t everyone a survivor from the time of diagnosis to the end? One reader thinks so.

A breast cancer survivor who had a double mastectomy with reconstruction talks about her nipple coloring process.

Having hope in the now is really faith in the future.

A male breast cancer survivor shares a note of gratitude to his surgeon.

Cancer can both open and close doors. It can make life feel crowded and foreign. It can bring out both the best and the worst in people, much like being on a crowded elevator can. As it creates space in our life it can also push us out of our comfort zones but it doesn't change who we are.

After treatment, this survivor was terrified of everyone and everything until her very wise doctor said, “I did not put you through all this for you to put yourself in a bubble – go live your life.” And she has… for 16 years and counting.

On those dark days, cancer survivors need to remember there are rays of sunshine behind the clouds.

We have to find light in the darkness of cancer not just for ourselves, but for those that will come after us.

When you are lost you ask, "Where am I?" When you go through cancer, it is hard to find where you are. In the map of life, why not find yourself where you are in this very moment? You are here.

Four out of 100. That is the survival rate for stage 4 glioblastoma: four percent.

As a result of what I went through and my never-ending passion for helping others, I believe that my diagnosis happened for a reason – to lead me to a career in patient advocacy.

The power of friendship within the world of metastatic cancer has hit home for this survivor.

A two-time cancer survivor finds cancer worries a little easier to face with time and experience.

One of the hardest things to realize about cancer is that it rarely goes in a straight line.

Art is a creative outlet that provides health benefits to those affected by cancer. Art therapy is becoming more widely used in the field of medicine as its ability to help people is evidenced.

Sometimes it doesn't pay to make comparisons.

Carrying chronic illness can be very difficult, but there are ways to navigate the world without being crushed by the weight of what we cannot control.

I hear friends talk about feeling old and resisting the natural process of aging. “Old” for me was a dream and a wish. Now I rejoice in every wrinkle as affirmation that I am getting older. Yahoo. I can’t wait to be 70.

Vision Boards are both therapeutic and fun for cancer survivors and everyone else!