Posts tagged cancerthriver
Celebrating 10 years as a Cancer Thriver

Never stop believing in your body’s ability to heal itself has been my mantra since January 22nd, 2015.

That day changed everything for me. There was Tracy B.C. (Before Cancer) and the Tracy after. Ironically, I loved that B.C. woman. She had been on a journey to heal her inner demons, insecurities, and pain—some of which stemmed from childhood struggles that many of us wrestle with. By the time I hit my 30s, I had come to terms with some deep truths I didn’t like about myself, the people I had hurt, and the challenge of forgiving myself. I believed I had climbed the mountain of regret, dropped the backpack of shame, and finally found my stride. Then I was knocked down—or rather thrown down the mountain—into an uncertainty I fought hard to escape, to no avail.

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A Letter to a New Cancer Patient

“Wanting to be someone else, is a waste of the person you are” ~Marilyn Monroe

I was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer in 2015, a few months after my 40th birthday. I was devastated. Why would this happen to me? I was the poster child of health & fitness in all the ways one can be “healthy". One thing I could come up with after months and months of agonizing and fighting this diagnosis, unwilling to accept the fate of living with a permanent colostomy bag after being inundated with poisonous chemicals and radiation….I had lived for 20 years with chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease.

My immune system was compromised from mono when I was a teen and the standard american college diet of processed foods & alcohol contributed to my gut permeability but this was misunderstood in the late 1990’s. So I adapted to chronic bloating, constipation, fatigue and pushed through changing my lifestyle and diet at 24 with very little change in symptoms and several GI doctors telling me to just eat more fiber (which I was).

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TO ALL MY CANCER THRIVERS

I am almost part of the 7 year club. The 7 year Cancer free club and I feel the “itch of discontentment” boiling up at times. Do you know what I am talking about?

The wondering if cancer will ravage my body again since I don’t get those semiannual scans. The concern that a day I feel more tired could be a warning sign. And knowing the healthy lifestyle I lived did not thwart cancer’s rage which dimmed my confidence on all I believe.

The inside voices attack without notice despite all my counseling and life coaching. I think it is part of the Survivor experience. I have larger tools available in my ammunition that have pushed me in to a THRIVER and remind me to be here today rather than worry about the future.

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