Annette Hill got wonderful news in early May of 2014 when she learned she was pregnant. But toward the end of the month, after discovering a lump in her breast and pointing it out to her doctor, she got hit with a very different kind of news: she also had stage III breast cancer.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it, so it’s really about my life today and how cancer makes a difference in a person’s life,” said Thomasina Holmes, a thriving lung cancer survivor who credits Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center for saving her life.
I was 24 years old and dating the man of my dreams. The first year of our relationship was perfect. But when I was 25, I started to get sick. I had monthly doctor’s appointments for an entire year to figure out what was wrong.
More than 20 years ago, Megan Johnson was fighting for her life as a pediatric patient at Roswell Park. Given just a 10 percent chance of survival, Megan defied the odds and is now well on her way to a career in medicine.
I visited my first tanning salon at age 16. In high school I was a cheerleader, and I felt that being tan for games made me look skinnier in my uniform. My friend’s mom owned a tanning salon and always gave us a discount to tan. I even got a job working at a tanning salon for a couple of years.
“You have to stay mentally engaged in something,” advises Kevan. “Don’t concentrate on the negatives. Make yourself a goal, and picture that goal every day.”
It would seem that for some patients and caregivers, the biggest challenge is not to live up to the labels, but to learn how to just be themselves again.