What
Makes a Survivor?
Writing
about myself as a breast cancer survivor
is probably my toughest assignment. While
working on my book, the first draft hardly
touched on the subject, but my daughter
Liz, after reading the manuscript, said
that I must include those experiences. So
I went back to the journal I kept, and in
essence went back in time to the year I
spent in chemotherapy and radiation
following the surgery.
I
don't consider
myself
a hero
because
I am
one of
the lucky
ones.
It's
been
over
30
years, and
I have
been
cancer
free.
When
I discovered
the lump,
I went
immediately
to
the doctor.
Within
two weeks,
the surgery
had been
completed
and the
recovery
began.
Having a
supportive
and loving
husband
and children,
and dear
friends,
I did
survive.
Cancer
is a very scary and serious thing to deal
with. But I also look around at others who
are dealing with difficult and
debilitating illnesses and conditions. I
think that they are the true survivors.
Some of these people I have interviewed
and I talk about in my book. People like
Liz Lukather, a polio victim, who
continued to wear leg braces and actually
rode horses. People like Tim Whitney, a
young horse trainer who had been injured
in a traffic accident, and continued to
train young riders while sitting in a
wheel chair. People like the youngster at
California Polytechnic University, who had
an arm removed because of cancer, but had
learned to vault on horseback. There were
the people I met while doing an article on
Canine Companions for the Lions
International magazine. These youngsters
and oldsters were in wheelchairs, and were
being trained along with special dogs that
would be their helpmate.
There
are many survivors and heroes, and in my
work I have had the privilege of meeting
many of them. How fortunate I have
been.
|
