SURVIVOR~ a word that took on a whole new meaning

As I sit here and type this, I think about the word...survivor.  It has so many meanings and so many visions pass through my mind.  There are those that survived a financial hardship, some survive school, others survive natural disasters, war, divorces, and the list goes on and on.  The picture at the forefront of my mind tonight is the purple shirt of Relay for Life.  You see, that purple shirt represents a person who is a cancer survivor.  How do I know that you might wonder?  My sister, she is a survivor.  A two time thyroid cancer survivor.  I have spent countless hours raising funds for Relay for Life as a committee member and chairman.  I did it be cause I cared and I did it to honor my sister, who is the strongest woman I know! Why is all of this relevant?

On December 14th, 2011, my world changed.  I was told by the doctor I had cancer.  What? Really?  Me?  NOOOOO... I have always been the relatively healthy one in our family.  Yes, over the past few years I have had a couple of small things pop up, but nothing major.  How could this be?  So this blog is me, accepting the fact that now I am a survivor.  At the time my doctor told be, my world went blank.  I wanted to pretend she was talking about someone else (how selfish is that?) I refused to cry.  How is it that two minutes before I was a sister of a survivor and then, BAM, now I am a survivor.  I told my immediate family and a couple close friends (one who is also a cancer survivor), but other than that, the word cancer was NOT coming out of my mouth!  For a few days it didn't, when asked about my pathology reports I tried changing the subjects or saying, "oh it wasn't that great, but I will be fine."  FINE?!?!? I was ANYTHING but fine!  I was scared, mad, in shock, trying to function as always, but with a HUGE white elephant in my brain!  Yes, I prayed (I am a firm believer in prayer!), I think I even tried bargaining with God. Then it hit me...I was SUPPOSED to be on this path I had no intention of ever walking!  You see, God has a way of doing that.  He places us on paths and journeys in life we have no intention of taking part of.  But this is His plan for me.  He promises that His plans are for us to prosper and not to be harmed.  At first it wasn't that comforting.  Not harmed?  HELLO, I HAD CANCER!!!!!  But wait, I am still here!  I am a SURVIVOR!  I realized one day before we left to visit family for Christmas that my journey with cancer is an opportunity.  It is an opportunity to live out my faith.  A faith that regardless of the curveballs this life throws at me WILL NOT budge!  A faith that can move mountains, a faith that when I want to cry, it reminds me that my savior willing died for ME!  A faith that has brought me through my husband's deployment, moving away from my friends and family, and the ability to say I am a better person because I endured it!  Today I stand before you a survivor of thyroid cancer.  Do I know the final results of all of this?  No, I have an upcoming appointment where I will learn more.  But I have already learned two of the most important lessons; I WILL survive this and God's plans are much bigger and better than the small little view I have of my world and that gives me more hope than I could ever imagine!

I leave you with this to ponder...What is it that you have survived?  The thing that you thought you wouldn't make it through, but have? Did you learn and grow because of it?  Did you make it through it because of your faith?  Let me know!  And in the mean time I will be praying for all of the survivors out there!