STILL THRIVING Hello I am Carole Sanek, a 19 year Thriver after breast cancer. I call myself a Thriver because breast cancer changed and transformed me.
When I was first diagnosed I was living in Richmond, Virginia. Moving there was part of a career move that I wanted in my life which also meant leaving friends and family behind. I was alone, starting to make friends, but I traveled on my job and when I heard the news I had no real support system in place. I was not using a computer as a way to communicate or do research. When my surgeon called with the news that I had a malignancy in my right breast at 4:30PM on a Friday afternoon, I was stunned and brought to my knees in emotional pain. Thankfully I had worked in the world of Oncology research and I put that knowledge to work for me by picking up the telephone and calling the Oncology Department of City of Hope and talking to an MD contact there who was able to reassure me that my diagnosis was made early and that my tumor was very small. It helped to hear that, but those of us who have traveled the Breast Cancer Highway hit the deepest part of the abyss of terror, and climbing out of that abyss takes a lot of time. I prayed a lot. I took time off work to have my surgery and treatment. I consulted with an Episcopal priest. I promised God if I lived through all of this that I would always be there for anyone else after all I was the consummate care taker – I was a nurse, an Oncology nurse prior to moving on in my career. As happens to many of us after treatment, I had problems staying in Richmond. I knew virtually no one, I got nausea every time I drove by the hospital where I had my surgery and
radiation so I moved to Florida because I could work from anywhere in the country. I moved to an island where I felt I might be able to begin to heal emotionally.
relationship where my partner did not need “fixing”. I finally had a care taker in my life, and this is when I was able to open my heart completely to realizing I had healed emotionally.
I only lived in FL one month when my promise to God came into my life and while I was saying “this is too soon” there I was back in my role as a care taker of others and it just kept coming at me. This did start my healing process, I just did not know it yet.
Things just started to fall more and more into place once I realized the gift I had been given in my diagnosis. It is a gift – it made me who I am now. It energizes me to help others and brought new career paths to me.
The next several years passed quickly. I started a cancer support group for all cancers. I lived 80 miles from a major medical center so I became the person to talk to, and I kept my promise. I just did not feel I was recovering/healing enough so I quit my job and moved to Costa Rica. I needed a change and I knew I would continue my promise by making this move. I met with a surgeon in Costa Rica and he and I formed a partnership where I would travel with him to more remote areas and we would teach women how to do breast self-exams and if/when we found something suspicious, we brought them back to San Jose’ for treatment. One year later I returned to the US and I chose Chicago as my “home base”. Of course I returned to working in and with breast cancer. I taught prevention of lymphedema, I fit women for bras and prosthesis, I walked in all the walks and I met the man who would be my biggest fan – my husband, Larry. I was at the 5 year milestone at this time. Fast forward to year 13, I am living in Florida again, married, and I agreed to walk the 60 mile 3-Day. This surprised all my friends and family because I don’t like to sweat and I did a lot of sweating for 6 months through training and walking the walk. It was that year that my metamorphosis happened from survivor to thriver. I was finally in a
I manage two breast cancer pages on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/AfterBrea stCancerRevivingSurvivingThriving is a safe page for women to come for meditating, support, sharing and love. I have just started a public figure page on Facebook because I have been doing public speaking on my story and that page is designed to curate articles and links to a stronger mind/body/spirit experience for women. I blog, in fact I was just named one of the 23 best breast cancer blogs by healthline.com and did not even know that until a friend told me I had been given that honor. I am a co-host on the Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine Annual Thriver’s cruise, and I do all the social media for this cruise. I am also the Director of the BCW Ambassador program where we will be doing webinars, speaker programs, workshops and retreats all to help women thrive after diagnosis. This all happened because of the positive healing energy everyone has given me over 19 years – all the care I gave, all the love that came back to me. I always end my talks with this: “When I made the promise to God, little did I know that almost immediately breast cancer would come into my life constantly nipping at my heels. I am so grateful it did because now it nips at my heart and brings me personal joy that I can be there for others.” Thank you for allowing me to tell my story (condensed version) J Carole Sanek carole@breastcancerwellness.org 352-540-0177