World Cancer Day

Hi! I couldn’t let today pass without stopping in.

First and foremost to those of you reading this that have lost a loved one to this ugly disease, my heart goes out to you. The grief of watching someone suffer through a cancer diagnosis, is terrible enough. To lose someone to it - there are no words.

I check in today - 22.5 month cancer free!! Hey, whose counting….

To be quite honest even three years into this battle there are moments in time where everything around me spins and it feels that this diagnosis may still choke me. I am so blessed to be cancer free but even with that comes the chronic meds, the ongoing issues from surgeries, radiation, medications etc. Not to mention the fight each day to believe I am healthy and that cancer has not yet come back again. All in all being a survivor is a lot of work. That is what I have decided!

But today - on world cancer day - I wanted to take a second to focus on where I get my strength.

I know pastors often talk about when we are at our weakest, at our breaking point is where a lot of people finally find God.

I thankfully had a relationship with God pre-cancer. But it was very platonic, a word that really truly should NEVER explain my relationship with him. I did all the things, I checked all the boxes, I wanted to do whatever I needed to be close with him and show up for him.

My fight with cancer - sitting in the chairs alone waiting for results because family wasn’t allowed in during Covid. During procedures and scans that they don’t let anyone back for. Anxious waiting for test after test, step by step … in the waiting and in the pain - I truly found God. When I prayed I felt him physically slow down my breathe, and keep me from panicking. He led me to the right people at the right time, gave me friends who feel like family, sent me sunrises and sunsets during hard drives. He gave me the strength to smile and laugh, on the very hardest days the last 3 years.

He gave me the strength to write about my journey, share it on the news, meet hundreds of young women across social media to talk about my experiences and try to help them as they started the journey.

I wish I could take away cancer from each and everyone of us. But while doing so, I wish I could also give the feeling of finding a best friend and true father in God.

I am type A, as all get out. I have a plan for my plans and in the last three years I can tell you - it doesn’t matter 😂

What does matter ? God is in control. He loves you, he is for you, he has already extended his hand and is waiting for you to reach out to him. He wants you to feel loved and supported even in the darkest times.

I hate that my body physically and mentally has had to deal with cancer. But, I would be lying if I didn’t say I am so thankful that spiritually - I did have to deal with it.

If you know a cancer survivor - give them a big hug today and tell them they are so much more than a survivor ❤️ Until next time,

Sami