Fellow Fighter Lynn

Congratulations to Meaghan for creating I Kicked Cancer’s Ass! I don’t usually use that word in public, but then I’ve been quiet for a long time. I kicked 3 types of cancer in 1987 and have been cancer free since then. Woohoo - that’s 23 great years of appreciating my life like I never did before cancer.

I was preparing myself to die with breast, colon, & skin cancer in 1987, and I’m so thankful to the people around me who helped me to change my mind. I did a lot of work myself, but my support team helped to make it easy for me.

If you have cancer and you want to kick its ass – get a support team to help you as it’s very tough to do this alone. If you know someone with cancer who wants to kick its ass, then whatever support you give them will make a big difference in how they’re able to live their life.

I was fortunate to have a wonderful health care team all through surgery and chemotherapy. My doctors were helpful and they inspired me to do everything I could to complement conventional medicine and help myself get well.

The Cancer Agency ran a support group where I learned to do meditation, visualization, guided imagery, deep breathing, and deep relaxation. My surgeon recommended a psychiatrist to help me deal with unfinished business, and a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy course to help me deal with depression.

With love and support from family and friends, I learned how to manage my stress and change my diet and exercise pattern. Reading books, listening to tapes, and attending workshops taught me many other coping skills and bit by bit I built my road to health and wellness.

I’ve been an active member of the cancer community for many years now as a survivor, health care worker, and as a volunteer. It’s with sadness that I’ve seen many people die of cancer. If we don’t know cancer is there and we let it grow too long, it just takes over like an aggressive weed. When cancer is advanced it takes over our bodies and takes away our energy; with more cancer and less energy we have less chance of kicking it out.

I think the best defense is an offense; we need to be aware of our bodies and check out signs and symptoms when they begin. This way I hope more people will give cancer a swift kick, and take control of it before it controls them. Cancer is like a bully! When we let cancer have its way, it takes over our lives and even takes our lives for no good reason. When we stand up to cancer we at least have a chance of kicking it out of mind and out of sight. By focusing on being as well as we can possibly be, we improve our quality of life and possibly our quantity of life.

One day at a time, I give thanks for every day.

You can visit Lynn's blog to read more about her story, prevention, early detection and recovery. Please stop by and thank her for sharing her amazing story!