Cancer Survivors Discussion Group

This month marks the 6th anniversary of me being told I was cancer free. In many ways I was lucky in my cancer journey. It was caught fairly early. It had not spread. I had to have 2 scary surgeries, but I managed to avoid chemotherapy even though it was the recommended treatment plan of my original oncologist. My journey taught me a bit about myself, changed my relationship to death and mortality and provided me the opportunity to really assess the life I was living. I came out of it with some clarity and a renewed sense of purpose. I also came out of it with some PTSD, some severe scanxiety and a waxing and waning yet ever-present fear of recurrence. My journey led me to work on a national cancer helpline for several years where I talked daily with cancer patients, their families, caregivers and many survivors. One of the things I noticed over those years was that while there are many resources for cancer patients and recent survivors, there are fewer to almost no resources for long term survivors like myself. While my cancer is thankfully long gone there are still ways that it’s impact is still very present in my life. I’ve often longed to be in community with people in the same place as me, but haven’t found that. 

This has lead me to create my new monthly Cancer Survivor’s Discussion Group. My hope is to create a space where cancer survivors can come together and just talk about topics that are important to us. This is not intended to be a support group, but I hope it will be a supportive place. While I am a professional coach, I will not be coaching in this group, but will be facilitating it from a coach approach. To me that means I’ll be listening for the places where people may be stuck, for the lessons people have learned in their journeys, for the strengths they have discovered in themselves and for the lives they are longing to create and I will facilitate the conversations with those in mind. One thing I’ve come to understand in the last few years is that cancer survivor is a broader term than I had originally realized. It encompasses people who are now cancer free, people that had cancer and are having a recurrence, people who have a form of cancer that isn’t curable, but can be managed, people who survived one type of cancer and now have another type, anyone who actively has cancer and is living and many more variations. I want this to be a space where anyone who identifies as a cancer survivor and wants to be in community with others will feel safe and welcomed. If this resonates with you I hope you’ll join me.