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Question: Cancer Survivors' Stories - National (Outside Malaysia)

Answer: Cancer survivors cope with their diagnosis, treatment, and life with or after cancer in different ways. While some prefer to put their experiences behind them, others choose to draw on them and get involved with cancer-related activities or causes. Below are some inspiring stories of survivors who found a purpose in sharing their experience and giving back to others. Perhaps their stories will inspire you and offer hope that there is truly life after cancer.

1. Gary Johnson - A Continuing Adventure
When Gary Johnson went in for surgery to remove a cancerous prostate, doctors discovered that the cancer had already spread to his lymph nodes. Now he’s on a treatment that is designed to hold the cancer cells in check for as long as possible. “Since there’s no cure for my cancer, my challenge is to live as long and as well as I can,” says Gary.

Unwilling to sit back and worry, he and his wife Marlys focus on being proactive in facing down the disease. They have gathered a team of medical professionals, family, friends, and other cancer survivors as a support system. Gary has also changed his lifestyle — he's getting more exercise, getting better nutrition, and finding ways to manage his stress.

”My challenge is to live as long and as well as I can.”

Gary’s cancer diagnosis completely changed the priorities in his life. He's now focused on family, faith, and the outdoors. He and Marlys established the 501(c)(3) non-profit Cancer Adventures, exit disclaimer and travel across the United States, telling their story to cancer survivors, students, and health professionals.

“Not knowing what the future holds is the hardest part,” Gary said recently. “The three things getting me through every day are my faith, my wife, and having this purpose to help others. Having a purpose has turned a negative into a positive.”

2. Minnine Hines-Chen - Living and loving every day
“Women your age don’t get breast cancer,” someone told Minnie Hines-Chen when she found a lump in her breast during her first year of college. But at the end of her second year, she was diagnosed with the disease. And just a few weeks later, she was accepted into nursing school.

Determined not to waste energy on anger, fear, or resentment, Minnie chose to have a bilateral mastectomy and an intense chemotherapy regimen so she could get back on track with schooling as soon as possible. "There was only room for one enemy in this battle," she says, "and I knew I needed all my strength to conquer it."

“Being only 20 years old, all the breast cancer survivors I met were older. But it was nice," she says, "because I had strong ladies to look up to, and our shared experience opened up doors and relationships that I never knew existed."
Minnie also had good friends keeping her busy, and her strong will helped her mom keep the faith that her daughter would make it through.

”I'm here and able and that's what matters most.”

As soon as she was able, Minnie began telling her story and educating others about her experience. She began speaking at conferences and became a Reach to Recovery volunteer to encourage newly diagnosed patients.

Minnie says that she still deals with the stigma associated with cancer. "So many people are uneducated about the disease and the wonderful people who are fighting it every day," she says. "I'm glad I can bring wisdom to those around me. I still have scars from my chemo port, mastectomy, and reconstruction. But I'm here and able, and that's what matters most."

Minnie reached her goal of becoming a nurse and always keeps her positive attitude, despite the long-term effects of her cancer treatment. "I have to take tamoxifen daily, get monthly injections, and am in artificial menopause," she explains. "I can't have children, which puts a damper on my dreams. But until I learn what God has planned for me, I will keep serving others with compassion, laughing with my friends and family, and living for this moment every day.”

3. Gary Bonacker - Biking for Life
"I love life and do everything I can to live each day better than the day before. I know I sound like a greeting card," Gary Bonacker says, "but it's a good way to live."

In the spring of 2003, Gary was diagnosed with a stage 2 brain tumor. But just 10 months after surgery that removed only half of the tumor, Gary rode alongside Lance Armstrong at the Ride for the Roses cycling event in Austin, Texas.

“It was something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Gary says. It inspired him to go home to Bend, Oregon, and start his own cycling event to raise money for cancer. The Tour des Chutes exit disclaimer has grown from 750 riders in 2005 to over 1,100 riders for the 2010 ride. The money raised during the event helps fund the cancer survivorship program at St. Charles Cancer Center, which provides medical care for many of the cancer patients in Bend and other nearby communities.

”It took cancer to make me look at my life and how I should live it.”

The years since have not been easy. Gary was diagnosed with his brain tumor in 2003, and he still battles it every day. He requires ongoing treatment to slow the growth of the tumor and is on anti-seizure medicines. With fatigue and multiple health problems, he has had to limit his work a great deal.

"There's not a day that I don't go into a dark place, thinking about things I might miss," he says. "But my family, workplace, and friends, and my event help me through it. My other coping strategy is to read about research and learn everything that I can about my disease. I've surprised doctors with information they weren't even aware of.

"I have heard people with cancer say it is a gift," he jokes. "Well, I would take that gift back, if possible."

Gary continues to do his best and move on with his life. Besides planning his annual fundraiser, he says that spending time with his family, gardening, and fishing are his best coping strategies. And, of course, cycling.

"What's sad is that it took getting cancer to make me look at my life and how I should live it," Gary says. "We take a lot for granted. But I don't any longer."

4. Ben Moon - The Picture of Balance
Ben Moon, then a 29-year-old rock climber, surfer, and adventure photographer, assumed that the blood in his stool and his ongoing fatigue were due to the rigors of traveling or to a virus he had picked up along the way. Luckily, a wise nurse-practitioner suggested that he get a colonoscopy.

"I was only 29, and a lot of people my age don't get scoped," he says. "The fact that I got sent for a colonoscopy saved my life."

”Cancer taught me how to thrive even through the tougher times of life.”

Shortly afterwards, he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. After undergoing radiation all summer and then chemotherapy, Ben had surgery to remove his rectum, leaving him with a colostomy. Eight more rounds of chemotherapy left him exhausted and feeling toxic.

“It was pretty hard emotionally to deal with that kind of a change to my body, especially in my late 20s,” he says.

It was difficult for him to deal with the colostomy at first, but Ben researched the procedure and realized he could irrigate daily, having far greater control. He started rock climbing again just weeks after surgery, eager to get outdoors and test his new limits.

"The thing that helped me the most was focusing on one day at a time and not looking too far ahead," he says. "I never let a feeling of defeat creep in; I tried my best to stay positive. Seeing the brave smiles of those who were much older and physically weaker than me in the infusion room was a huge boost."

Ben was lucky to have wonderful friends and family who gave him ongoing support. They encouraged him to keep up his active lifestyle, helped with meals, sent cards and notes, and even held a silent auction to raise money for his medical bills. "They wouldn't let me lie around and feel sorry for myself," he says.

His photography clients were very understanding, too, and made sure he had work to do. With everyone's help, Ben made it through his treatments and got "back up on the wall" with a chemo pump line dangling and a new lease on life.

Now age 36, Ben is working with a company that makes ostomy supplies, helping them improve their products so that people who have the procedure and who are young and active can feel confident with their condition. "I'm very aware of how I treat my body," he says. "I try to practice yoga, climb, surf, and bike often. So I know how important it is to have a sense of control, trusting that you can live your life the way you want to."

In a world where most people aren't comfortable discussing colostomies and the challenges that come with them, Ben encourages questions and welcomes the opportunity to help others through his website exit disclaimer. "I feel the only residual challenge from the cancer is living with a colostomy, but I haven't let it slow me down," he says.

Surviving cancer has brought Ben closer to his friends and family. He believes this greater connection caused a shift in his photography, too, helping him to capture human emotion more clearly in his subjects. "I feel more focused and driven to improve and grow as an artist," he says. "Cancer helped me appreciate those I love in my life even more, and taught me how to thrive even through the tougher times of life."

5. Katie Strumpf - Sharing Her Stories
When Katie Strumpf was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 10, her parents were wise enough to look at the different protocols of the clinical trial she had joined. After examining their options, they insisted Katie be placed into a group where the treatment wouldn't affect her fine motor skills. Now she is healthy and 31 years old and grateful for all the research they did. She remembers the experience clearly.

"I followed my parents' lead, in that I tried to be positive and understand my treatment," she says. "One of my coping strategies was to remind myself that, although cancer was forcing me to grow up a lot faster than I wanted to, going through the treatment would give me the opportunity to grow up and at some point, just get to be a kid."

Members of Katie’s family came from near and far to support her. They brought her favorite foods and games to help her feel normal.
The hardest part was missing a lot of school, she recalls, and not getting the opportunity to feel like a regular kid. Spending so much time in the hospital took a toll on her, too. And getting sick from chemotherapy was exhausting, especially at such a young age.

”Having cancer made me appreciate life...I'm a stronger and better person.”

During treatment, Katie told her parents that someday she would write a book for children with cancer. Sure enough, after graduating from college, she wrote I Never Signed Up For This! An Upfront Guide to Dealing with Cancer at a Young Age, an easy-to-read book for kids with cancer.

Today, Katie's life is still very much focused on cancer issues, particularly the fight against pediatric cancer. She gives public readings of her book and for a while worked at a nonprofit organization that helps seriously ill children and their families. Unfortunately, she lost her husband, Adam, to a brain tumor last summer, so she is sharing her thoughts about surviving as a young widow on her blog, Sleepless in the South. exit disclaimer She plans to write a book about their experience and the impact of losing a spouse to cancer at such a young age.

On the last page of her first book, Katie summed up her current view of life in this way:

I know you probably think I am crazy, but having cancer made me fully appreciate life. I go after what I want in life and believe I am a stronger and better person. Of course there are times when my life is uncertain and I am unsure of my path. When I'm hesitant to take that next step, I look over my shoulder and she's always there. That young bald girl with cancer dares me to give up, to not take that next step . So I put on some red lipstick, toss my hair over my shoulder, and take that next step. I owe it to myself, and the cancer survivor that I am."



The story on this page was first featured in the book Cancer Adventures, by Marlys Johnson (Copyright © 2008 by Marlys Johnson). Both the story and the photograph are owned by the author and the survivor and are used with permission.

(Source: National Cancer Institute, 03 Feb 2021)

Source Link: https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/ocs/resources/survivor-stories