Seven years ago I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
for the second time, the most curable of cancers according to my
oncologist. When you are diagnosed with
cancer, one of the first things that your oncologist will do is stage it. That just means that they need to figure out
how aggressive the cancer is and how far it has spread. Being a two time cancer survivor I have been
staged at a one and two years later at IIA (2A). The things that I had to experience in order
to get my body healthy again are some that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. However, I will tell you that I am grateful
for those experiences more today than I have ever been. As I mentioned to a couple of friends today,
not only do these life experiences teach you more about who you are, they also force
you to appreciate the small things in life.
In realizing that
dying was not an option, I started searching for more. More of what? You might wonder… more of
anything and everything. I instinctively
knew that even though my life had been spared once for a reason there was an
obvious message that I still hadn't received, and I was going to do whatever
it took to find out what that was. In
the meantime, I made it a point to get closer to Him, (because let’s face it
that’s what some of us do when we are desperate). And in doing that, I ended up at a church my
aunt had invited me to. At the end of
the service, the pastor approached me and said something like this… you know
Lorena, you are one of the luckiest persons on earth. I immediately thought “really? You jerk, I
have cancer how lucky is that?”
Obviously I didn’t dare say that aloud.
The pastor must have read my thoughts or facial expression because he
then said the following… You have been
chosen to go through this struggle, it’s not going to be easy and there will be
days when you want to give up but you have to remember this… You have been chosen because you are not only
strong enough to survive this but you will be an inspiration to many who are
going through their own struggles. You
will be a giver of hope. You will be an
example of strength.
On my hour drive home I gave this some thought and until
this very day I allow myself to think of this moment. I don’t know what moved this man (yes I do)
to convey this message to me, but it’s no coincidence that the people around me
started flocking to me and talking about how much I had inspired them to be
strong through their divorce and/or how I had given them a different
perspective on what they thought were “real” issues. And my favorite was when people would tell me
that looking at me made them realize that “if I could do it, they could do it
too.”
I am now a two time cancer survivor and have been in
remission for almost 7 years, but honestly I had to go back in time to give you
that number because I am NOT counting. I
have learned so much especially in the last 2 years and I’ve finally accepted
my purpose and have embraced it completely.
I will do whatever it takes to help people reach their full potential in
life. I will be that beacon of hope. I will deliver what has been requested from
me and that is to remind us that we are capable of living our lives to its
fullest and we are capable of being our ultimate and happiest self if only we
allow it. In 2006 and 2008 the word
STAGE meant a “bad” thing… it brought fear because it would confirm “how bad it
was” or how “aggressive” the cancer was.
Nowadays the word STAGE is a beautiful thing… The STAGE is where I will
be very soon, spreading my message of life.From my heart to yours,
LRP
