I’ve learned during this process, everyday I gain and meet some amazing friends. And although we may leave each other for whatever reason, I wouldn’t change a thing!
“We do what we gotta do to live, Sis,” she would often tell me. She was right and together, we did what we had to do to survive.
I’m a thriver because each and everyday I am pushing through the odds to beat this thing and live a long prosperous life with me and my family.
Instead of allowing cancer to defeat me, I have learned everything I can be and can do in-spite of.
I know all our stories are different and I want other women to know to what it’s like when finding out you’re stage IV right out the gate. If I knew back then what I know today things could had been different.
I’ve learned through all of this I’m a lot stronger and resilient than I ever thought I could be.
I want the world to know that I am living with this, but it isn’t my entire identity.
I’ve had a good life and while it’s not going to be as long as I hoped, it’s still going to be significant.
Knowing that I may never ring the bell again, I still consider myself a survivor!
As a woman of color, I know that it’s a table that our communities have been traditionally omitted from. But with the overall goal to advance our understanding of cancer across the board, it is imperative that everyone is both included in the conversation, and also empowered to own a piece of this process.
