World Cancer Day: My Personal Story
World Cancer Day is Sunday February 4th (which also is my son Max’s 19th birthday).
I still can’t believe that I ever had cancer sometimes!
And here we are - another year and another World Cancer Day which aims to save millions of lives each year through education, raising awareness, and pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action.
As a cancer survivor, it’s both my honor and duty to spread awareness and inspire hope and action through my story.
Picture this: It's August 2013, and I'm going about my business working as an Executive Pharmaceutical Representative for GlaxoSmithKline when the universe decides to throw me a curveball. That day, I went to the ER thinking I had oyster food poisoning, but instead, I got hit with a kidney cancer diagnosis.
It was as if I was a guest star in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy because surely this wasn’t my life! To say panic, fear, and hopelessness crept in as the words “we found a mass in your kidney and its cancer” were delivered is an understatement. Now, there was a brief silver lining - at least the Doc that delivered the diagnosis was my own personal Dr. McDreamy - I mean, he was hot! Thank god for that and that I kept a sense of humor then and to this day.
Dr. McDreamy was also the epitome of compassion and grace. Despite his shift being over and changed into street clothes, he delivered my cancer diagnosis with such sensitivity that it softened the blow. He became my hero in that very moment, the guiding light through the darkness of my diagnosis, until I met my next hero Dr. K (Kozlowski), who surgically removed the cancerous part of my kidney with precision and ease and followed me for the next ten years with assurance, compassion and the very best bedside manner in the history of medicine!
However, recovery was anything BUT filled with ease. Removing the tumor was the easy part. Recovering physically, mentally, and spiritually was a daily uphill battle.
To this day, I’ll never forget the unfathomable pain I was in directly after surgery. I couldn't help but scream at the poor souls transporting me from the surgery wing. In my delirium, I remember blurting out, "Don't you know who I am?" – as if being a kidney cancer warrior gave me VIP status!
Well, guess what - it did - because it turns out being a cancer warrior, survivor, turned thriver was the exact gift I needed in my life to not only remember who I am but also gave me the gift to realize that I get to BECOME - every single day. Becoming who I want to grow into is the biggest blessing.. Just writing this fills me with chills, wonder, and oh so much gratitude!!
I look at the world through a different lens now. I savor the small stuff that many may take for granted. I stand in awe and wonder at all of mother nature’s gifts. Every day is another opportunity to BECOME, to grow, to evolve and harnes our gifts to make a difference in the lives of others.
My birthday is February 10th (six days after my son's) and I LOVE my birthday. I don’t fear aging ever and savor each and every birthday like an immense gift, as it is my opportunity to celebrate life and be present.
And so, on this World Cancer Day, I hope you savor the moment; I hope you give yourself the gift of self-reflection and presence and the opportunity to BECOME who you came here to be and, in so doing so - make a difference in the life of someone else.
With Grace & Gratitude,
Yaffa
