It is not the her quote but I just thought it pretty much sums it up. I too dislike the "fight" and "lost his/her fight with cancer", etc., etc.
Cancer is not a battle that we win or lose. It is not our fault or a sign of weakness. We are not responsible for our cancer outcomes. The crapshoot of cancer and recurrence can NOT be controlled. Celebrate yourself for each time you, despite all the trauma of cancer, treatment, and the mindfuck of “survivorship”, choose to love, live, lust, laugh… We are not a success story based on our cancer progression or not. We succeed when we are courageous enough to keep walking forward even with missing parts, severe pain, addled brains, and broken hearts.–Dr. Erica BernsteinSadly, Jen Smith, the writer of the blog "Living Legendary" and the book "Learning to Live Legendary" just entered hospice. She has stage IV breast cancer and leaves behind a 6 year old son. Jen is 36. I've ordered her book and can't wait to receive it. You can order it through Amazon or go to her website above.
I wish I had come upon her blog earlier. It is so hard to start reading when you know the ending but that is almost always the case with a stage IV cancer diagnosis. I want to "live legendary" and make each day count.
It's a beautiful quote indeed, Sharon. I'm sad to hear about Jen's diagnosis but happy that her writing is out there to help make a change in others' lives. I hope that her book is giving you the strength you need to get through your own battle.
ReplyDeleteThanks Aurora! It does help to read other patients experiences. I find it very helpful if sometimes very sad...
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