April 5, 2023

It’s crazy to think that a year ago today I was at MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, Texas, preparing to have my tumor, Oscar, excised from my body once and for all. I can still remember the peace that washed over me that morning and knowing that I was being covered in prayer by my many friends, family members, churches friends, and strangers that I’ve never met. I did not have one ounce of anxiety or fear that day. I had complete faith and trust in my doctors and in what I had accomplished to mentally prepare myself for this moment.

I look back now at the pictures from that day and what I see is a woman who took control of her shitty situation and turned as much of it as she could into a positive. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying getting cancer, having chemo, surgery, or radiation is a positive experience, but I am saying that the experience taught me to look at life from a different perspective. A different lens if you will and for that, I am thankful.

Cancer taught me:

• To be Grateful for every day.
• To love my body where it’s at.
• That my mind is the most powerful tool I have.
• How to ask for help and to provide help to others.
• To cherish experiences (with those you love) over stuff.
• To trust that God has the ultimate control and that I have control over nothing.
• That everyone’s journey is different.
• To remove toxic people (and situations) from my life.
• To laugh louder, cry harder, and love often.
• That therapy is okay, we all need to clean out our closets occasionally.
• That hair doesn’t really matter.
• That you are never really “done” with cancer, but you can move past it.

And most importantly, it taught me to love myself and that it was okay to put myself first. I don’t believe that I ever did that – EVER.

So, today, I celebrate 1 year being CANCER FREE! I celebrate the challenges and growth that I’ve made to make it through the journey. Today I celebrate me.

For anyone going through this journey, or any hard journey for that matter, please look for the positives in the negatives and I pray that you will learn to love yourself first. Remember the only way to get past whatever you are experiencing is to walk through it. So hold your head up high and march on.

Xo,

Tracy