SFL TALK

Good Afternoon,

Welcome to this Swan for Life Cancer Foundation’s Event to honor Breast Health Awareness Month. It’s an honor and a privilege to be speaking with you. Many of you have walked before me, many of you have walked with me (thank you) and hopefully, many of you will never take this walk.

I’d first like to thank Dr. Fata for establishing the Swan for Life Cancer Foundation that supports integrative services for cancer patients. Only a part of my cancer experience was about medicine. Much of it was about my feelings and faith, using and finding my identity and discovering strength and flexibility I never knew I had.

The integrative information and therapy that I received through the Foundation was as important to my healing as the medical services that I received. Thanks to Swan for Life, my journey with chemotherapy was less difficult and more beautiful than what I thought possible.

It’s a wonderful afternoon -- perfect temperature, sunny skies and beautiful color.
I hope I’ll be able to make your time worthwhile for you to be indoors on this beautiful day.

The theme of today is: “LIVE, LOVE, BELIEVE IN THE CURE”.
I was asked to talk with you today about my experience with breast cancer from diagnosis to cure. I hope that my words may be words that lead you to healing, hope, joy and inspiration. I have less than ten minutes so I’m going to squeeze as much information, thoughts and feelings, as I’m able, into our time together.

It was a year ago that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My first thoughts, about what to talk about today, were to chronicle the events of this past year, which I now refer to as my “Medical Sabbatical” because it became my time to rest.

I had a mastectomy and complete reconstruction in early November.
When I found out in late December that I was going to have chemotherapy, I decided to keep a Blog, which is a short name for web log -- a personal online (internet) journal that is frequently updated and intended for public reading.

I made this decision for several reasons:

• To openly communicate with my friends and family without having to repeat information and stories. I especially didn’t want to dwell on anything that was a negative experience to me because I believe that what I focus my attention on is what I get more of… At the same time, I didn’t want to deny my experiences so that it appeared that all was rosy in my life. I’ve never had the title of ‘teacher’ but that’s part of who I am. This was an opportunity to share my learning moments with those who were interested.

• Keeping a Blog gave my friends and family the option to ‘tune in or to tune out’ to what was happening with me. They could check my Blog only when they desired. It left the choice with them.

• Writing the Blog was a wonderful opportunity for me to sort through my thoughts and feelings. Writing, for me, is healing; it provides me a source of relief through the expression of my emotions. It gives me a canvas to paint my thoughts and find a solution.

• My Blog has turned out to be a chronicle of my medical history and an accurate memory of my experiences.

• A bonus of having a Blog was that when I was with friends and family, I could be living the moment with them. There was no need to go over the past. We could concentrate on the present. We could share and care and laugh and cry, and fully enjoy our time together.

• The greatest benefit of my Blog was the caring Love I received from friends and family during this time. I was overwhelmed and humbled by the number of emails, cards, notes, flowers, food, resources and gifts that all seemed to arrive at the “perfect” time; when I needed them most.

Writing a Blog was my decision for me. Each of us has to find what’s best for herself. Live your own life, not what others want you to live. Hear your own inner voice. Follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want.

If you WANT to read my Blog, it’s still available. I’ll update it this weekend by adding this talk. My desire is to also include the many wonderful resources that I’ve experienced and learned from these past few months.

These handouts (hold up) list the internet address of my blog. Check it out if you’re interested in learning about how I came to my decisions of choosing a mastectomy over a lumpectomy, using Allerderm for my reconstruction instead of expanders, Penguin Cold Caps to retain my hair during chemo and the type of chemo that I would receive. My tumor was estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and HER2 negative, invasive breast cancer. I had Sentinal Node Surgery with one node removed . It was negative. The cancer was rated as Stage I or Stage II, depending on the oncologist.

You can also track my feelings/emotions and experiences and the resources that were helpful to me. I could do another talk about the many wonderful and useful resources available in our area. http://josettawood.blogspot.com

For my Blog followers, since it hasn’t been updated for awhile, you can see that I’m now feeling well again. I had a bout with the drug Arimidex this summer, that’s over! I have new, curly hair, which speeds up my ‘getting ready’ time. My energy level is high and I’m mostly free of pain. Life is Great!

Back to the topic of my talk today…the theme of our gathering:

“LIVE, LOVE AND BELIEVE IN THE CURE”.
LIVE is the first one:

We’re all given 24 hours each day, which adds up to be 1,440 minutes in each day. Likely, around 500 of those minutes are used for sleeping, leaving us almost 1,000 minutes . Seems like a lot at a glance. Another 500 or more would be used by those who work. We need to ‘clean ourselves up’ each day, eat three meals, possibly shop for food, prepare food, cleanup afterwards, household chores, add in some kids and that last 500 minutes has disappeared. You get the idea… it doesn’t leave very many minutes to “LIVE!”

That’s why it’s important to LIVE in every moment. Focus on the here and now--not the worries/fears of tomorrow or the regrets of yesterday. We only have today; really we only have this moment.

When you’re with your spouse, friends and children--give them your full attention-- control the distractions of electronic devices from phones to TV’s. Be with them physically, emotionally and spiritually.

I’ve always said that I have resources in my life that are limited: my money, my energy and my time. As a result of this limitation, I’m careful to choose how I ’spend’ them. I’m conscious of the commitments I make that ‘spend’ these resources. I evaluate their worth to me physically, emotionally and spiritually.

I’ve told my kids, “When you see something you want to buy, it’s not just a matter of whether or not you can afford it -- whether you have enough money. The REAL decision is: Whether THAT”S what you want to spend your money on…cause if you do, you’ll have less for something else that you might desire.”

The same is true with our energy and time. We have limited amounts of these resources.

I have an added caution for you: Worry and fear will do two things well -- they’ll consume both your time and your energy. They’ll steal time that could be spent enjoying, resting or even sleeping, Worry and fear are fantasies.

Make choices that work for you. Use each moment wisely.

I’ve gotten pretty good at living in the moment. I can now squeeze one heck of a lot enjoyment from almost everything I’m doing.

LIVE, LOVE and BELIEVE IN THE CURE:
NEXT IS LOVE:

I talked about feeling surrounded by Love when I mentioned my Blog. Because of that Love, I felt protected and lifted up during my chemo treatments and from their side effects.

For me, the word Love can be substituted for Spirit, Divine, God, Omnipotent, (unlimited power), Omnipresence (present everywhere) and Perfection.

Since I was a young girl, I’ve had a strong belief that all of us are connected -- through the Spirit/Divine that lives/dwells in each of us. I believe that we are one. Just as a sunbeam can’t separate itself from the sun and a wave can’t separate itself from the ocean, we can’t separate ourselves from one another. We are individuals, yet we are one. We are all part of a vast sea of Love, one invisible Divine Mind.

The Love/Spirit in one of us is the Love in all of us. There’s actually no place where God stops and you start; and no place where you stop and I start. Love/Divine is energy, it’s an infinite continuum. When we think or act with Love, we are co-creating with God; we realize that there are no barriers. The only barriers that exist are the ones we create.

Love can be expressed, as I learned during my treatments, in caring, affection, devotion, kindness, attention, thoughtfulness, understanding and compassion for ourselves and for others. I mention self. Loving ourselves is as important as loving others. Remember, we’re all one.

I have another thought about Love…that Love/Divine is the opposite of fear. Or maybe it’s better said as, where Love/God resides, fear cannot. I believe that Love cancels out or takes away fear in the same way that light eliminates darkness. I don’t have to fight darkness, I only need to bring in a light. The same is true for fear. If you continue to feel fearful, bring in Love/Divine. I felt very little fear during this past year because of the Love that so many of you expressed to me. Thank you!

LIVE, LOVE AND BELIEVE IN THE CURE
BELIEVE IN THE CURE or BELIEVE IN YOUR CURE:

Belief is the psychological state in which a person holds a proposition or premise to be true. If I believe it to be true, it IS true for me.

“What the mind believes, it will achieve.” This quote goes back several decades for me, My beliefs, both the conscious and sub-conscious, effect my actions and outcomes.

I know that if I become afraid, my body will react by sending blood to my muscles so that I can ‘fight’ or ‘flee’…(putting my body in the fight or flight mode).

Beliefs, which translate to thoughts and feelings, are powerful chemicals to my body. My mind and body are a unit. What happens in my head affects my body. In recent years, this belief has been confirmed by the scientific community.

I can believe that a glass is half empty or half full. I can believe that something is good or bad, right or wrong. It’s my choice. However, how I perceive a situation will affect my thoughts, words and actions. My body will respond accordingly. My perception of a situation comes from my beliefs.

The following comment is from my Blog, it refers to a time when I was working towards making a decision and realizing that what I believed is what I would achieve..

“Many of you have commented about my ‘positive attitude’ and how that is of great value to my healing. I agree. I’ve come to the conclusion that no matter what decision I make--as long as I believe it is the right decision for me--the results will be successful. So, again, I’m back to working on my head to embrace fully the decision that I make.

I believe in the/my cure. I believe that my chemotherapy treatments entered my body and washed away any cancer cells that might have been present in my body. My body flushed out the cells, leaving my body in a healthy state. This belief is a desire of my heart. I know that this belief and desire will release healthy endorphins to continue to keep me free of cancer.

I believe that I will get through my life’s challenges by respecting and loving myself as well as accepting your love and support into my life. When I do that, love will appear in the face of fear…”and all will be well”.


Yesterday I heard very positive raves about a movie called, FIVE, which is a collection of five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people’s lives. It will be shown on TV, the Lifetime Channel, this Monday, October 10th at 9:00pm. I highly recommend that you find a way to view these stories about real people impacted by the ‘meteor’ of cancer that suddenly strikes their lives.

FIVE highlights the shared experience that each character endures from the moment of diagnosis, through an interconnected story that uses humor and drama to focus on the effect breast cancer and its different stages of diagnosis have on relationships and the way women perceive themselves while searching for strength, comfort, medical breakthroughs and, ultimately, a cure.

As one character says, “Look beyond; look ahead and wonder, not dreading, and asking, what’s next?


I hope that my words will encourage you to live, think, feel and love in a way that is cathartic (freeing) and galvanizing (moving you to take action) -- whether it’s loving yourself, getting a checkup for yourself, helping someone undergoing treatment, joining Dr. Susan Love’s Army of Women, lobbying efforts or making a donation to a cancer support or research foundation.

THANKS. Thanks for being here and thanks for listening. I surround you with my prayers, good wishes, uplifting words, encouragement and healing energy. You have touched me. I’m blessed by your grace.

REMEMBER: LIVE, LOVE, BELIEVE IN THE CURE!!!