I have battled I have brought I’ve
attacked
I have assaulted I have waged war I have
fought in little skirmishes and I have
fought in epic battles
I have been defeated and I have been
victorious and I have learned the
importance of having a battle strategy
I’m here today to share with you my life
strategy
I was only 25 years old when I found a
lump under my arm a biopsy led me to be
sitting in front of my doctor and he is
asking me a riddle how do you eat an
elephant
how do you eat an elephant now I had
just been diagnosed with breast cancer
right
I felt as if the whole world was falling
apart It was as if I was Alice in
Wonderland tumbling down this rabbit
hole
I was just falling and falling and
falling
and here he was asking me if I knew how
to eat an elephant just imagine for a
second they is this huge ginormous
two-ton pink elephant charging at you
that is pretty much what cancer feels
like
please can you raise your hands up and
think of eight woman that you care about
could be a mother your sister your niece
your friend just eight women
I’ll bring a finger down
thank you the American Cancer Society
states that one in eight women are
likely to be diagnosed with breast
cancer in their lifetime one in eight
I want you to realize I want you to
understand that breast cancer is closer
than you think it’s not something that
happens to someone somewhere else it’s
here it could happen to one of those
eight women you just thought about
cancer is a disease where your own body
betrays you
hence the starts when a cell behaves
abnormally but can’t cell then
multiplies rapidly and these cells that
get together and they form a tumor which
can be seen via an x-ray or felt as a
lamp as I did chemotherapy is the
cocktail of drugs used to treat cancer
chemotherapy works by killing
fast-growing cells like cancer cells
blood skin nails and here chemotherapy
does not discriminate it kills both
healthy cells and cancer cells
hemotherapy for me felt as if what I
imagined
death would feel like
the cold drugs slowly enter your veins
and your body becomes progressively
colder and colder I’m not sure that’s
the drugs or if that’s fear
hemotherapy is a deeply invasive form of
treatment and it left me feeling weak
violated
chemotherapy also has its upsides though
I was able to explore a totally new look
for the first time in my life I was bald
no it’s pretty foxy so thank you
chemotherapy for teaching me that beauty
comes from deep within us
thank you chemotherapy for showing me
that I was stronger than I could ever
imagine
chemotherapy was not the end of the
battle what followed was the bilateral
mastectomy reconstructive surgery and
hormone treatment once that was done
we kind of thought the battles over and
I was declared the victor or as I prefer
the Conqueror
and so having fought the biggest battle
of my life I decided that I refuse to
live an onion and refuse to die an
unlived life and so I married a
wonderful man we moved to an island
paradise and we had a bouncy beautiful
oh so very bouncy little boy
and then
I had the steady drumming
fight fight fight
my cancer like a spy had gone deep deep
deep within me and had mutated to an
aggressive form of cancer called her2
positive breast cancer after ten years I
was diagnosed with breast cancer again I
was lost and distraught and shocked I
had no words this was not fair this
could not be happening
I just didn’t know how to even handle
this
and so my doctors and I convened in the
war room and we discussed strategy they
would open up their war chest and shoot
me with all the artillery that they had
chemotherapy
ceptin radiation home on therapy
I would fight
I was an experienced warrior
this time I had so much to live for
I wanted to hold my son’s hand on his
first day at school
I wanted to see him winning his first
medal and I wanted to listen to the
first piece of music that he composed
my battle strategy was simple
first time I had face chemo the first
time I had face cancer
I had conquered it
cuz I believe that I would not be
defeated by it
I am NOT defined by cancer
this time run
I would put on my black metal chain-link
armor on and I would fight
the battle was gruesome Kimo like giant
towered over me
you
they were days when I felt that I could
not go on I wanted to give up and there
were days when I felt utterly invincible
and there were days when I wondered how
I would get through just
surprisingly enough ten years later and
I still rocked the bald look bald is
beautiful
I have donned my armor on for cancer
twice I have put on my armor on in life
many times I refuse to be defined by
cancer
I refuse to be called a survivor for a
survivor I am NOT I am a warrior and
these are my insights
one
make time for the things that matter
do you know what’s important to you
do you know what you stand for
now reflect on how much of time you make
for the things that matter to you
I invite you to make time make time to
nurture your soul make time to listen to
your body make time for the people that
you love make time for the things that
matter to you
to become a collector
have you ever experienced the perfect
moment the moment is so perfect that
time itself stands full
I’ve learned that life is not about the
big things life is not about this
pursuit of perfection
life is the moment in between
that’s for the joy and ice
so again I invite you to become
collectors collectors of these little
moments of joy
like the smile of a loved one
why’s hug
like the sound of your little son
falling asleep in your arms
become a collector of these moments of
joys for they pass by so quickly
three
learn to let go now this has been a
particularly challenging one for me
for me letting go is synonymous with
giving up with accepting defeat and I am
not that kind of person
I don’t accept defeat
I fight to the end
I’m not saying that I didn’t have bad
days
it just said uncomfortably I’ve had days
where I felt like giving up and I
wondered why was I putting myself
through this I have had days when I was
incredibly angry at the injustice of
being of having cancer second time and
I’ve had days when I have felt
absolutely and totally betrayed by the
one person that is closest to me my own
body
and was during those dark days that Hope
whispered to me
letting go it’s not about giving up
letting go is about knowing when to put
your armor on and fight
and when to drop down to your knees and
pray
letting go is a gentle grace he’d say
knowing at this too shall pass
and so
when called upon I will put on my armor
and I will fight for I fight for myself
I fight for my sister
and I fight to be the light for other
warriors that are looking for just a
glimmer of light for I am a warrior of
hope
[Applause]
attacked
I have assaulted I have waged war I have
fought in little skirmishes and I have
fought in epic battles
I have been defeated and I have been
victorious and I have learned the
importance of having a battle strategy
I’m here today to share with you my life
strategy
I was only 25 years old when I found a
lump under my arm a biopsy led me to be
sitting in front of my doctor and he is
asking me a riddle how do you eat an
elephant
how do you eat an elephant now I had
just been diagnosed with breast cancer
right
I felt as if the whole world was falling
apart It was as if I was Alice in
Wonderland tumbling down this rabbit
hole
I was just falling and falling and
falling
and here he was asking me if I knew how
to eat an elephant just imagine for a
second they is this huge ginormous
two-ton pink elephant charging at you
that is pretty much what cancer feels
like
please can you raise your hands up and
think of eight woman that you care about
could be a mother your sister your niece
your friend just eight women
I’ll bring a finger down
thank you the American Cancer Society
states that one in eight women are
likely to be diagnosed with breast
cancer in their lifetime one in eight
I want you to realize I want you to
understand that breast cancer is closer
than you think it’s not something that
happens to someone somewhere else it’s
here it could happen to one of those
eight women you just thought about
cancer is a disease where your own body
betrays you
hence the starts when a cell behaves
abnormally but can’t cell then
multiplies rapidly and these cells that
get together and they form a tumor which
can be seen via an x-ray or felt as a
lamp as I did chemotherapy is the
cocktail of drugs used to treat cancer
chemotherapy works by killing
fast-growing cells like cancer cells
blood skin nails and here chemotherapy
does not discriminate it kills both
healthy cells and cancer cells
hemotherapy for me felt as if what I
imagined
death would feel like
the cold drugs slowly enter your veins
and your body becomes progressively
colder and colder I’m not sure that’s
the drugs or if that’s fear
hemotherapy is a deeply invasive form of
treatment and it left me feeling weak
violated
chemotherapy also has its upsides though
I was able to explore a totally new look
for the first time in my life I was bald
no it’s pretty foxy so thank you
chemotherapy for teaching me that beauty
comes from deep within us
thank you chemotherapy for showing me
that I was stronger than I could ever
imagine
chemotherapy was not the end of the
battle what followed was the bilateral
mastectomy reconstructive surgery and
hormone treatment once that was done
we kind of thought the battles over and
I was declared the victor or as I prefer
the Conqueror
and so having fought the biggest battle
of my life I decided that I refuse to
live an onion and refuse to die an
unlived life and so I married a
wonderful man we moved to an island
paradise and we had a bouncy beautiful
oh so very bouncy little boy
and then
I had the steady drumming
fight fight fight
my cancer like a spy had gone deep deep
deep within me and had mutated to an
aggressive form of cancer called her2
positive breast cancer after ten years I
was diagnosed with breast cancer again I
was lost and distraught and shocked I
had no words this was not fair this
could not be happening
I just didn’t know how to even handle
this
and so my doctors and I convened in the
war room and we discussed strategy they
would open up their war chest and shoot
me with all the artillery that they had
chemotherapy
ceptin radiation home on therapy
I would fight
I was an experienced warrior
this time I had so much to live for
I wanted to hold my son’s hand on his
first day at school
I wanted to see him winning his first
medal and I wanted to listen to the
first piece of music that he composed
my battle strategy was simple
first time I had face chemo the first
time I had face cancer
I had conquered it
cuz I believe that I would not be
defeated by it
I am NOT defined by cancer
this time run
I would put on my black metal chain-link
armor on and I would fight
the battle was gruesome Kimo like giant
towered over me
you
they were days when I felt that I could
not go on I wanted to give up and there
were days when I felt utterly invincible
and there were days when I wondered how
I would get through just
surprisingly enough ten years later and
I still rocked the bald look bald is
beautiful
I have donned my armor on for cancer
twice I have put on my armor on in life
many times I refuse to be defined by
cancer
I refuse to be called a survivor for a
survivor I am NOT I am a warrior and
these are my insights
one
make time for the things that matter
do you know what’s important to you
do you know what you stand for
now reflect on how much of time you make
for the things that matter to you
I invite you to make time make time to
nurture your soul make time to listen to
your body make time for the people that
you love make time for the things that
matter to you
to become a collector
have you ever experienced the perfect
moment the moment is so perfect that
time itself stands full
I’ve learned that life is not about the
big things life is not about this
pursuit of perfection
life is the moment in between
that’s for the joy and ice
so again I invite you to become
collectors collectors of these little
moments of joy
like the smile of a loved one
why’s hug
like the sound of your little son
falling asleep in your arms
become a collector of these moments of
joys for they pass by so quickly
three
learn to let go now this has been a
particularly challenging one for me
for me letting go is synonymous with
giving up with accepting defeat and I am
not that kind of person
I don’t accept defeat
I fight to the end
I’m not saying that I didn’t have bad
days
it just said uncomfortably I’ve had days
where I felt like giving up and I
wondered why was I putting myself
through this I have had days when I was
incredibly angry at the injustice of
being of having cancer second time and
I’ve had days when I have felt
absolutely and totally betrayed by the
one person that is closest to me my own
body
and was during those dark days that Hope
whispered to me
letting go it’s not about giving up
letting go is about knowing when to put
your armor on and fight
and when to drop down to your knees and
pray
letting go is a gentle grace he’d say
knowing at this too shall pass
and so
when called upon I will put on my armor
and I will fight for I fight for myself
I fight for my sister
and I fight to be the light for other
warriors that are looking for just a
glimmer of light for I am a warrior of
hope
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: