“An Awakening”

When I was diagnosed with Breast cancer I reacted like many do; first thing came to mind was “a death sentence”. However, I found out later it was truly “an awakening” for me, especially when I received bad news again later down the line. I was diagnosed with “colon cancer” a few years later, yet I’m still here to tell about them both. I first began asking God, why? What had I done so wrong in life to have this placed upon me? But suddenly, I knew that I was going to be OK.

I also realized that I was about to face a new beginning, new hope, do and see more with a whole new prospective on life. When I think of the “gift of life” that was given to me twice over, I know that I will develop and gain strength from all my experiences. Even with all the current complications I now have to live with, I still feel truly Blessed. For a while, I wasn’t happy with the way I looked after my surgery, nor the pain and complications I still have to live with daily. But one day I decided to snap out of it. I thought about the individuals that are no longer among us. I also realize that there will always be someone worse off than I am, who am I to complain, “I still have my life”. One day during one of my many surgeries, I experienced something so real, so peaceful, that I knew I had to write it down. I turned my experience into a poem and I called it “Peace”. I took that poem, along with many others I had written during my Breast cancer period and placed it into book form. I was blessed enough to have it published. I later had an inspirational children book published, and working on my third.

I truly believe when you survive a horrific tragedy or a horrible disease as cancer, it’s for a reason, you have a purpose and I want to live and find out exactly what that is for me. The experiences I’ve had to endure are what gave me insight to form the words of my poems. With the words and phrases of each poem of statement, I wish to make a positive impact on someone who’s ill or otherwise hurting, hoping it gives them the strength to embrace their life in a whole new way. I’m a true example that you can survive cancer, not once, but twice, if you get to it in time. I’m not saying that it will be easy, and I’m certainly not saying all will survive it, but just have faith, fight with all you have, because when you’re at your weakest, cancer is at it’s strongest, then hold on.

Karen Rice
Two-time Cancer Survivor