5 years surviving with a passion
Passion keeps you moving forward my passion is photography. Five years ago today I sat opposite a doctor who looked me in the eye and without hesitation said, “it’s cancer.” That nightmare began when an emergency room radiologist read my x-ray for a dislocated shoulder and saw a “spot” on my lung which led to a countless doctor appointments, tests and procedures accompanied by uncertainties and fear.
I chose to keep this fight to survive private allowing few people into my circle of confidence, people treat you differently when the word cancer is involved and I needed a sense of normalcy. You may be wondering why I am sharing this publicly now. Five years is a huge milestone because my surgical oncologist said I had a 50% chance of still being alive in five years post surgery. A follow up scan and subsequent biopsy several months after surgery revealed the other lung also had cancer which reduced my longevity significantly. When I met with my radiation oncologist he said to me, “this is a marathon.” That scared the crap out of me because I’ve always thought of myself more of a sprinter I wasn’t sure I was up for the challenge.
Things that have helped me get to this five year mark are faith, family, friends and photography. Flickr became a daily anchor in my life during recovery from surgery. I would look at photos and dream of getting back to being out in nature to make my own photos and to be able to travel again. Flickr helped keep my focus on beauty and creativity and positive things especially during times of disparity and fear. My life has changed I’ve had to learn new ways to do the things I love but the point is I am still doing the things I love to do. I’m happy to still be around to learn new things and use photography to express myself.
The takeaway I hope you will have after reading this post is to do what you love and love what you do life is filled with hopes and dreams twists and turns and it’s not what happens it’s how you handle things, it’s how you choose to live each today.
I’m grateful for my husband who has supported my decisions on treatment and how I choose to be a survivor. I’m also grateful for having one of the best treatment centers and oncology teams in the country to see me through this journey.
The past year my travel plans were altered due to the COVID pandemic so I carved a new path I spent weeks camping while studying deer behaviors and habits which is why there are so many deer photos in my stream. Make lemonade from the lemons in front of you.
Oh and by the way if you've read this far the photo I chose to post today is a whooping crane. What better example of survivor could I have chosen these birds were on the brink of extinction and they are still here they are true survivors.
To wind this up firstly thank you for reading this post to the end. Thank you for your support in the Flickr community. Should our paths cross in the real world please treat me as you would any other fellow photographer and forget the disease I am living with.
5 years surviving with a passion
Passion keeps you moving forward my passion is photography. Five years ago today I sat opposite a doctor who looked me in the eye and without hesitation said, “it’s cancer.” That nightmare began when an emergency room radiologist read my x-ray for a dislocated shoulder and saw a “spot” on my lung which led to a countless doctor appointments, tests and procedures accompanied by uncertainties and fear.
I chose to keep this fight to survive private allowing few people into my circle of confidence, people treat you differently when the word cancer is involved and I needed a sense of normalcy. You may be wondering why I am sharing this publicly now. Five years is a huge milestone because my surgical oncologist said I had a 50% chance of still being alive in five years post surgery. A follow up scan and subsequent biopsy several months after surgery revealed the other lung also had cancer which reduced my longevity significantly. When I met with my radiation oncologist he said to me, “this is a marathon.” That scared the crap out of me because I’ve always thought of myself more of a sprinter I wasn’t sure I was up for the challenge.
Things that have helped me get to this five year mark are faith, family, friends and photography. Flickr became a daily anchor in my life during recovery from surgery. I would look at photos and dream of getting back to being out in nature to make my own photos and to be able to travel again. Flickr helped keep my focus on beauty and creativity and positive things especially during times of disparity and fear. My life has changed I’ve had to learn new ways to do the things I love but the point is I am still doing the things I love to do. I’m happy to still be around to learn new things and use photography to express myself.
The takeaway I hope you will have after reading this post is to do what you love and love what you do life is filled with hopes and dreams twists and turns and it’s not what happens it’s how you handle things, it’s how you choose to live each today.
I’m grateful for my husband who has supported my decisions on treatment and how I choose to be a survivor. I’m also grateful for having one of the best treatment centers and oncology teams in the country to see me through this journey.
The past year my travel plans were altered due to the COVID pandemic so I carved a new path I spent weeks camping while studying deer behaviors and habits which is why there are so many deer photos in my stream. Make lemonade from the lemons in front of you.
Oh and by the way if you've read this far the photo I chose to post today is a whooping crane. What better example of survivor could I have chosen these birds were on the brink of extinction and they are still here they are true survivors.
To wind this up firstly thank you for reading this post to the end. Thank you for your support in the Flickr community. Should our paths cross in the real world please treat me as you would any other fellow photographer and forget the disease I am living with.