Coping with Cancer

CANCER, SURVIVOR GALLBLADDER CANCER, GASTROINTESTINAL, POEM, POEMS Beth Copeland by Beth Copeland When we arrive an aide offers heated blankets, one for me and one for my sister Becky. This week we have a room with a window. Sunlight slants through venetian blinds as if saying, I want to live. I sit in the chemo chair and spread the warm blanket over my lap. A smiling woman stops in the doorway with a cart of snacks. I ask for ginger ale and a Rice Krispies Treat wrapped in blue foil.

CANCER, SURVIVOR BREAST CANCER, POEM, POEMS Rabiha Hatridge by Rabiha Hatridge Uninvited Deceitful Disguised Hidden. Blending Consuming Sprawling Invasive. Detected Imaged Revealed Caught. Gouged Sealed Poisoned Controlled. Secret Waiting Patient Watched. Rabiha is a breast cancer survivor living in Rose Hill, KS.

CANCER, SURVIVOR ESOPHAGEAL CANCER, GASTROINTESTINAL Steve O'Grady; Photo by Thang Ho Photography by Steve O’Grady I’ve never been the kind of person to take life for granted. I grew up on a farm and spent six years in the U.S. Navy, living a life where you showed up every day and did your part. Somewhere along the way, I started saying every day felt like Christmas.

CANCER, HEALTHY LIVING, HOW TO COPE - SURVIVOR CHEMOTHERAPY, EXERCISE & FITNESS by Berfin Mahmut, PT, DPT, CLT-LANA, OnCS Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment, meaning it affects the entire body. While it is highly effective in treating cancer, it can also lead to a wide range of physical and emotional side effects. Some side effects, such as nausea or fatigue, improve after treatment is completed, while others may persist for months or even years.

CANCER, SURVIVOR BLOOD AND BONE MARROW CANCER, HODGKINS LYMPHOMA Steve Garraty by Steve Garraty At 18, I thought I was standing at the starting line of adulthood. I had graduated from high school and was preparing for college. Then I was diagnosed with Stage III Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After doctors removed a grapefruit-sized malignant tumor from my neck, the future I had imagined was replaced by nearly a year of chemotherapy, nausea, exhaustion and uncertainty.

CANCER, SURVIVOR BREAST CANCER, POEM, POEMS Sally Dallas by Sally Dallas Intrusive and persuasive, methodical in its approach Tenacious and relentless, invisible like a ghost Lurking in silent waiting, in a dimension just out of reach The unsuspecting victim is oblivious to its breach The discovery brings sorrow, questioning your defeat Armed for serious battle, inner strength will not retreat Emotions provide fuel, for an overwhelming fear Not for oneself, but for those you hold most dear...

CANCER, SURVIVOR GYNECOLOGIC CANCER, OVARIAN CANCER By Kayley Corley, MPSA, JD When I was 29 years old, I was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. I was in the second semester of my second year of law school. I decided to keep going to school even though I was fighting for my life. People hear that and immediately assume the story ends with triumph. They imagine me heroically pushing through chemotherapy, earning top grades, and walking across the graduation stage with honors.

In the U.S. today, about 18.6 million people are living as cancer survivors. On June 7 – as part of the 39th annual National Cancer Survivors Day® – people in hundreds of communities worldwide and online came together to honor cancer survivors, celebrate life, and bring attention to the ongoing challenges these survivors face.

CANCER, SURVIVOR SARCOMA by Terry Healey My surgical team saved my right eye. For that, I had incredible gratitude. I awoke from an 11-hour surgery at University of California, San Francisco to find that my surgeon had removed not only half of my nose but also half of my upper lip, muscle and bone from my right cheek, the shelf of my right eye, six teeth, and part of my hard palate. I was attached to my chest with a delto-pectoral flap because so much tissue had been removed from my face.

CANCER, SIDE EFFECTS, UNDERSTANDING CANCER BREAST CANCER by Berfin Mahmut, PT, DPT, CLT-LANA, OnCS Breast swelling is a common experience for many breast cancer survivors, though it isn’t always talked about openly. It happens when fluid builds up in the breast and is most often related to treatments such as lymph node removal and radiation therapy, especially when the remaining lymph nodes are included in the radiation field.