First off, A little backstory.
I am a cancer survivor. In the fall of 2011, I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in my right distal femur. I was 17 at the time and was a junior in high school. I did about four months of intense chemotherapy, had a limb-salvage surgery and another six or so months of chemo.
As I write this now, a junior in college, I'm pleased to write that I am still cancer free and have been living out my life in some really cool ways.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows, though.
There are a lot of things that people know about fighting cancer. People lose their hair, yes. People get really tired and really sick, yes. People lose a lot of weight, sometimes, yes.
What you may not know, is that for those of us that are blessed to have survived this horrible disease, still face challenges brought on by cancer on a frequent basis.
One of the things that I noticed after a few trips to my hospital for chemo treatments is that I would feel sick before I even set foot in the hospital lobby. Just thinking about going back made me physically sick to my stomach. I realized that the physical damage that the treatment was doing to my body was having a mental effect on me, that was manifesting physically. This happens to me even now when I return to the hospital for check-ups and scans.
Another thing that can be really hard about survivorship is the fact that the diagnosis, surgery, treatment and to an extent, prognosis, are all part of my life. While my prognosis at this point is what most (including myself) would consider crystal clear, talking about this with new friends can be challenging. A big challenge I've found is bringing this up on dates. When do you do it? First date doesn't really seem right, but then she starts opening up to you, and it's a big part of your life... It's a hard topic, and you can't really just toss out, "Oh yeah, by the way, I beat cancer as a teenager." In some ways, I worry that it alienates my friends. All of the sudden, their fight with their sister about who drove the car last seems petty and meaningless. What people don't know / realize is that I fight with my brother too. I totally get it. It's fine to complain to me. I'll pretend to care just like any other human.I want to end by saying that I've learned that survivors are looked to in the community to represent the memory of the ones who have lost the battle. I feel a calling to make those who are gone proud. In a world filled with diseases like this, any show of strength and solidarity is paramount. We all have the chance to inspire someone every day, so why not do it every day?
