When I first started Holistica in early 2009, I was looking to create a community of like-minded people who cared about health and nutrition. I found myself moving to Indiana for a two-year oncology residency, and in 2013 moved to Arizona to work in an integrative cancer center. Never did I think I'd have such a personal connection to cancer.
My father was diagnosed with liver cancer in early 2014. With no family history of cancer, it was a shock. My sister and I flew back and forth from our homes to Florida to help our mother while our father was in the hospital. Five weeks after he received back-to-back treatments for his cancer, he died.
Later that year, on September 18, 2014 to be exact, I was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. Again, shock, but as I was working in an integrative cancer center I found myself surrounded by support. My mother was able to be with me during different stages of my treatment and along with my husband, was my caregiver. I started a blog,
just a little bump in the boob, to document my experiences and share my story.
I completed treatment in February 2015 and continue to this day to take medicine to reduce my risk of the cancer returning. In August of that year, my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. My sister and I moved her to live in Arizona so we could care for her as she went through treatment. My mother felt very alone after her diagnosis, not knowing anyone who had ovarian cancer who could share their experience. She befriended one of my coworkers who was a 20 year survivor, and I saw my mother light up every time she spoke of her new friend. Finding someone who had some understanding of what she was going through because they, too, had undergone the treatments and side effects was what my mother needed. After two years of treatment, including chemotherapy and surgery, my mother died.
Through my personal and professional experiences with cancer, I realized that having a support group while undergoing treatment for cancer is vital. I had an entire cancer center, my family, and friends there for me, but nothing was the same as talking to people who had gone through similar treatments. I found a tribe of women through social media, women who were at all stages of breast cancer and at all stages of treatment. They welcomed me into this new club, the club that no one ever wants to join. We talked about nausea, hair loss, neuropathy, aging joints and aging skin. We talked to each other about things we felt our doctors or our families weren't really hearing us say. We shared helpful hints that we learned firsthand that helped us through symptoms we experienced. Although we live miles, states, even continents apart, we formed everlasting friendships.
And that brings me to the
Cancer Social Club. I wanted to create a space where cancer patients, thrivers, survivors, and lifers could be surrounded by like-minded people going through similar situations. Where they could partake in integrative therapies like yoga, massage, and acupuncture, or purchase skin care or clothing that suited their particular needs. A place where they could go and talk, laugh, and cry, but mostly talk and laugh. As I figure out the logistics on how to make this dream a reality with four walls, I will first start online, where I found my tribe.
Follow the Cancer Social Club on
Instagram,
Facebook, and
Twitter.
