BC Becky

Never thought I'd want to be a breast cancer survivor

Tag: fate

  • Preparations

    I’ve talked before about how other things I have done in my life have prepared me well for this new journey. At the chemo class yesterday, the nurse talked about taking it one step at a time but also about celebrating between the various phases. This is very much the same advice given when you start a PhD. It is said “this is a marathon, not a sprint”.

    Also similar is the challenge in planning. Many of my PhD friends can relate to the challenge in planning things like family vacations. There are so many variables, and so many uncertainties, that planning is difficult. You want to make sure you are in a good place to actually take a break.

    And I’m a planner. I’m someone that likes to have things mapped out. I had my schedule mapped up to the end of 2014 – exactly how I would get my data collection finished, the number of trips to Ottawa, various conferences. Now I just don’t know. It is nice (and yet scary) to have a start date, but there are still so many uncertainties. I’ll get to learn a lot about blood counts – if any of my counts fall too low, they will pause treatment to allow them to recover. This of course, will put a wrench into any plans that I make.

    Fortunately, I also have the experience of our bike trip to draw on. There, we adapted. Although we still had some scheduled components. We had container ships to catch – and the ships wouldn’t be waiting for us – we needed to be there when they were there. At times, that meant using trains or buses to help us get to where the ships were going to be. We had to adapt our plans.

    With the shift of chemo start to July 7th, and hopefully not too many doctors appointments next week, we have a chance to get away for a few days (we hope). Well before the whole cancer thing, we had booked a campsite up at Yosemite for a few days. Although we had originally planned for four nights, we may only go up for a couple of nights – but still, it will be nice to get away. I have not yet been to Yosemite, so it will be nice to see what all the fuss is about.

     

  • The role of fate in my life

    Although I don’t believe in a god per se, I do believe in some form of fate. Throughout our bicycle journey (http://goingeast.ca/blog) we often felt that something was looking out for us. When I started my PhD, I reflected on fate here.

    I think that fate played a role in helping me be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. Fate directed me towards the PhD program, where I ended up working with the Department of Family Medicine (DFM). Without this, I never would have found myself working in medical education. The last three years working with DFM has meant that I have developed a much deeper understanding for how medical education works, how some aspects of medical research work (e.g. I know what implementation research is), and how medicine is practiced in an academic setting (even the difference between a community and academic setting). These all have proven to be very valuable, as I learn to navigate the American health care system. I also now have friends who are physicians, and they have been a great support.

    The PhD program also helped me discover myself as a blogger. It helped me create a wide reaching social network (really several networks) – which I am very grateful for. When I first heard that I had cancer, I had people that I could reach out to – friends who put me in touch with other friends – all helping to form a network of support. It is at these times of crisis that we discover the true power of being part of networked communities.

    Thank-you everyone for your supporting words. When we were on our bike trip, we learned to ask for what we needed – it was not an easy thing, as it isn’t normal in our culture. I wrote about hospitality and permitting others to help us on our journey. To that end, a small help that you could provide on my journey would be to send a postcard, at some point over the next year (not all at once please) – something random at some random time. A postcard with a smily face, a poem, or a joke. Getting a small thing in the mail will put a smile on my face. I’m not sure I want to post our address here – so email/facetime/twitter me and I’ll provide it. Thanks.

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