Life Sentence

On this day six years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer — 10 years after losing my older sister and five years after losing my younger sister to the disease. You can imagine how that news hit my entire family and those who knew what we’d been through.
 
Many people view cancer as a death sentence. I used to be among them. But through watching my sisters go through it, I learned it’s quite the opposite.

Believe it or not, there are some positive aspects of cancer. For one, it really puts life into perspective. People realize how trivial things are. What matters most becomes more apparent.

Cancer is actually a life sentence, a wake-up call ...

I’ve come to realize cancer is actually a life sentence, a wake-up call to live each new day to its fullest. The future is uncertain. We can only take one day at a time.
 
That’s exactly what I tried to do throughout my breast cancer journey. For some reason, God chose to spare me, and today, I’m cancer-free. Maybe it was so I could share this valuable lesson.
 
 
Excerpted from the manuscript about my cancer journey, Help! I’m a Science Project, currently en route to being published. ​