The cancer journey can take you on a jagged road with too many twists and turns. It doesn't always have to be an emotional rollercoaster if you know how to walk it.
BY Dana Stewart
PUBLISHED April 11, 2019
Dana Stewart was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 at the age of 32. She is the co-founder of a cancer survivorship organization called The Dragonfly Angel Society. She volunteers as an advocate and mentor, focusing on young adults surviving cancer. She enjoys writing about life as a cancer survivor, as well as connecting survivors to the resources, inspirations and stories that have helped her continue to live her best life, available at www.dragonflyangelsociety.com.
I could probably sum up this path, the directions it veers and the twists it throws at me constantly, with one word: Cancer. I probably don't even need to write a narrative explaining what I mean. Cancer; the word about sums it all up, I think. Alright, say I wanted to add a little color to it, a little definition, a little bit more of a description into what I mean. Here goes.
Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I understood what it was and what it meant. However, what I didn't know is what it was like to walk that road. I thought when people got a cancer diagnosis, they went through treatments, surgeries, lost their hair to chemo and then went back to their lives when they started looking "normal" again. I also knew that other people who were diagnosed were not as lucky. You might be thinking I am pointing out the obvious. I know this. However, isn't this way of thinking that has been presented to us by some of our friends, family and co-workers? Who hasn't come across this in a conversation: "but you look so good and your hair has grown back." We can shrug it off or become irate or find ourselves somewhere in the middle. It's just the way it is seen by the outsiders looking into the cancer world.
Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I understood what it was and what it meant. However, what I didn't know is what it was like to walk that road. I thought when people got a cancer diagnosis, they went through treatments, surgeries, lost their hair to chemo and then went back to their lives when they started looking "normal" again. I also knew that other people who were diagnosed were not as lucky. You might be thinking I am pointing out the obvious. I know this. However, isn't this way of thinking that has been presented to us by some of our friends, family and co-workers? Who hasn't come across this in a conversation: "but you look so good and your hair has grown back." We can shrug it off or become irate or find ourselves somewhere in the middle. It's just the way it is seen by the outsiders looking into the cancer world.
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