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Old 12-14-2013, 06:04 AM   #41
Paula O
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

Good for you taking a day at a time and not letting cancer steal your peace or joy, BrendaB. I've had to work on keeping my sense of humor through it all too.

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any directton you choose".
- Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!


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Old 12-14-2013, 06:19 AM   #42
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

Words of wisdom and encouragement from a Her2 Positive sister who long outlived her doctor's prediction at diagnosis:
12/30/10
"Happy New Year !! Hauoli Makahiki Hou !!
I couldn't let this occassion pass without wishing all of you peace, good health and joy in 2011 and beyond.
I was diagnosed in early January, 1999. A doctor told me I had 6 months to live at the beginning of 2000. I remember that day. I did not say anything. I just laid on his exam table quietly, but in my heart and mind I decided that was not going to happen to me !!!!!!!!
I didn't know how I was going to accomplish that task that day, but I figured it out as I went along. I learned as much as I could, was not afraid to challenge doctors when it was appropriate to do so and found ways to get the things I needed. This journey has not always been easy, but I kept going even though I changed the route a couple of times.
I changed doctors when I needed to do that.
On the other side of the coin I am still working with one or two doctors I first saw in 1999. Thankfully they are willing to travel with me through this journey.
I am still learning and putting one foot in front of the other. I promised my doctors I will be showing up for check ups when I am 90. That is my goal.
Never give up !!!!!!! Determination, believing in the possibility of success, learning as much as we can, refusing to give up, and being proactive and aggressive are the keys to long term survival.
All the best to each and everyone of you !!!!!!!!!! Never give up !!!!!!!!!!!"


1/13/13
"I was diagnosed in January, 1999, so that makes me a 14 year survivor. I am happy to be living long enough for age related health problems. I had quite a few of those last year. I am still recovering from some of them.
I still see most of the medical professionals I have seen for many years, including oncologists.
My plan is to keep going and live to at least 90 years old or beyond !! I will do everything I can to accomplish that goal. If one thing doesn't work for a health problem I will find something else that will work for whatever health problem I have or another doctor who is willing to help me with that problem. That is what I have done for the last 14 years. That is just the way I do things.
One of my doctors said he will be retired by the time I am 90. No problem. I will find another doctor to help me. His latest worry is that I will live longer than he will since two of my doctors passed away since my diagnosis.
I told him he is younger than I am so he shouldn't worry about that and I wish him a long life !!!!!!!
I am blessed to be alive. Life on earth is a tremendous learning experience. I want more of it !!!!!!!! I want to be around to see all the things that are coming in the future. I will hang in there, I will keep finding solutions to my health problems and keep putting one foot in front of the other."


------ALICE ELAINE MITCHELL 72, passed away at Queens Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 31, 2013 after valiantly fighting HER2 breast cancer for nearly fifteen years.


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Old 12-20-2013, 05:50 AM   #43
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

Here is a poem that was written by Nancy Emerson:

Today
Breathe deep
Talk slow
Walk soft
Let go
Give big
Take less
Don't count
Just guess
Act fair
Think long
Laugh loud
Hug strong
Plan bold
Dream far
Feel loved
You are.

"In 1985 when Nancy Emerson was diagnosed with breast cancer, her doctor gave her a life expectancy of only two years. But that grim statistic did not take into account Nancy's indominitable spirit. In fact, that year Nancy was just beginning a remarkable and inspiring journey across almost two decades and becoming an extraordinary spokesperson and champion, advocating for patient rights, lobbying to secure more funding for cancer research and treatment, and supporting and encouraging other cancer patients and their families."

I learned about Nancy when volunteering for a week with www.LittlePink.org (who provide free retreats for families battling breast cancer) and like the message of her poem. I'm no poet but her beautiful thoughts got me in the mood to write one of my own this morning:

Her2 positive cancer can knock you down and keep on knocking you down and dragging you around to places you do not want to go. Get back up. be brave, and fight, fight, fight.

Insurance companies can try patience and make things harder and more wearisome than they are already or have to be. Document and keep calling, calling, calling.

Doctors can mess up or lack expertise or run out of options. Find another doctor as necessary and move on, move on, move on.

Hurting people sometimes spew bitter, spiteful poison out of hurting hearts. It's like acid and can eat the giver and receiver alive if one lets it. Forgive, forgive, forgive.

Negativity is very toxic stuff. Be like a duck and let it roll off your back like water. Waddle on over and choose to swim in the lovely sunshine instead. Quack, quack, quack.

--Paula
“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going” 2 Cor 4:8-9
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Old 12-21-2013, 06:40 AM   #44
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

Here are some excerpts of a speech by Jim Valvano on March 4, 1993, http://www.jimmyv.org/about-us/remembering-jim/jimmy-v-espy-awards-speech/ when he was awarded the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the first annual ESPY Awards:

"Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul."

"..Time is very precious to me. I don’t know how much I have left...Now I’m fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how’s your day, and nothing is changed for me...We hug, we kiss, we love. When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it’s the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. ... You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special."

The following is a link to some kids with cancer at Duke's Hospital reading part of Jim Valvano's "Don't give up, never give up" message:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYWfUqlDO3Y


Paula
Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you, oh God
all whose thoughts are fixed on You!
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Old 02-24-2014, 05:46 AM   #45
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

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Old 02-28-2014, 03:17 PM   #46
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

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Old 03-21-2014, 08:00 PM   #47
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

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Old 03-23-2014, 05:25 AM   #48
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

”A pet is a medication without side effects that has so many benefits. I can’t always explain it myself, but for years now I’ve seen how instances of having a pet is like an effective drug. It really does help people.” – Dr. Edward Creagan, Oncologist at Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota.

Here is Dr. Creagan talking about his patients at Mayo Clinic and how their pets’ give them a reason to go home:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKMpUyddFyo
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Old 06-08-2014, 04:10 AM   #49
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

"If I tell you I have cancer, please don't tell me that your grandma died from cancer because you're not helping."
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Old 10-03-2014, 02:52 AM   #50
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

"Cancer may have started the fight, but I will finish it."
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Old 10-21-2014, 04:27 AM   #51
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

"Aging is not something we should be ashamed of -- it's something to celebrate. Because living is an honor. Because time is a gift.

We should be no more ashamed of our age than a tree should be embarrassed by its many rings. Instead of removing the lines, what if we celebrated them? What if we honored them?

I don't know how much time I have. But, if God is gracious, I hope I live long enough to get old. I hope I have so much joy in my life that laugh lines grace my eyes and smile lines etch my face.

And I hope when others see me, they don't think, "There's a woman who should going into hiding until she can afford a neck lift."

I hope they look at me and see a woman who lived.

A woman who gladly, proudly, joyously lived."

Copied and pasted from the article, " What Surviving Breast Cancer At 27 Taught Me About Wrinkles"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-...women&ir=Women
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Old 10-27-2014, 12:27 AM   #52
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

"I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit."
~ Markova
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Old 01-12-2017, 05:26 AM   #53
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

My daughter shared these quotes with me:

“On particularly rough days when I am sure I can’t possibly endure, I like to remind myself that my track record for getting through bad days so far is a 100% and that’s pretty good.”

“Hey, Beautiful One, You knew today would be a little tricky. Hang tight, Love. You are walking in the right direction. Just keep walking.”


Paula
http://jpoliver.com/wordpress/archives/1873
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:24 PM   #54
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

I really liked the "if I tell you I have cancer, please dont tell me your Grandma died from cancer". My boss does that with every illness known to man, no matter what illness he seems to have known someone who died from it. He did the same thing every time I road my motorcycle to work....."I've had "x" amount of friends die on their motorcycles..." I finally stopped riding on the days I knew he would be in the office. Seriously, do these kind of people think before they speak? Do they really think saying that is at all helpful?
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Old 02-04-2017, 05:30 AM   #55
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

"This too shall pass. It might pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass." Ha, ha!

"I pay my oncologist Big Bucks for This Hairstyle."

"Bald is strong. Bald Is brave. Bald is hope. Bald is beautiful"
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Old 02-07-2017, 05:01 AM   #56
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

"Cancer is only going to be a chapter in my life and not the whole story."
--Joe Wasser

“God’s Grace Will Keep Pace With Whatever We Face”
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Old 07-17-2017, 12:28 AM   #57
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Re: Collection of Quotes that Relate to the Cancer Journey

"Worry never changed what already happened and it is incapable of altering what's to come. But worry does have the power to rob today of it's joy if we let it. But we won't let it."
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