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10 Word Cancer Stories

by Dana StewartSurvivor, Breast CancerFebruary 10, 2020View more posts from Dana Stewart

I was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 32 years ago.  That day was almost 10 years ago.

I stopped thinking about the future and a life I may get to have because I was convinced I wouldn’t live past 5 years with a cancer diagnosis, let alone 1 year.  I had no plans for year 10 of survivorship, because, well, as I stated, I didn’t think I would get to see it.  So, 2020 is the 10th cancerversary of my diagnosis.  I needed to make it a big deal but had no clue how.  Then an idea hit me.  What if I told my cancer story in 10 words to celebrate the 10 year cancerversary I would see this year.  It took me less than a minute to come up with my 10 Word Cancer Story:

“Diagnosed with fear that always chases, a constant anxiety companion.”

Those 10 words said it all.  I’ve had fear on my tail for almost 10 years.  It feels like a constant companion that I keep trying to lose yet always keeps pace.  I immediately liked the idea of 10 Word Cancer Stories because I felt that I didn’t get lost in the fears of cancer as I heard someone else’s story.  I thought the idea might be useful for others to share their cancer stories too.

Just about everyone is affected by cancer one way or another whether they are a survivor, caregiver, friend, family member, etc.  I started sharing my idea with people I know and the stories I have collected so far have been unbelievable.  Everyone has a different perspective on the effect of cancer in their lives and the way people have put together their own 10 Word Cancer Stories has left me speechless so far.

After I was done with my active treatment, I started a nonprofit website called The Dragonfly Angel Society – Cancer Survivorship that shares resources on survivorship, survivor stories, blogs, and now 10 Word Cancer Stories.  I’ve been sharing each story with a picture shared by the story teller on The Dragonfly Angel Society social media pages.  The goal is to share 1000 of the 10 Word Cancer Stories throughout 2020.  What I started as my own 10 year cancerversay story, I now hope to turn into 1000 cancer stories of all those affected by the disease.

 

If you would like to share your 10 Word Cancer Story, you can submit by:

10 word cancer series


All of the posts written for Elephants and Tea are contributed by patients, survivors, caregivers and loved ones dealing with cancer.  If you have a story or experience you would like to share with the cancer community we would love to hear from you!  Please submit your idea at https://elephantsandtea.org/contact/submissions/.

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