A friend of mine
has recently recovered from cancer, and is finally celebrating 5 years all
clear, some months after this momentous anniversary. Throughout her treatment she
wrote a series of incredible e-mails to an extended network of worldwide family
and friends. The e-mails were shocking in
their honesty and rawness, and filled with concern and prayer requests for others she met while undergoing treatment. From the other side of the world I read and wept.
The next time I saw her she was ‘all clear’ of cancer, but she wasn’t the same.
She looked old. She looked scared. She looked lost. Discharged from hospital and medical care,
friends hugged and congratulated- it was over!
Except it wasn’t.
She didn’t send an e-mail
at 5 years all-clear. She didn’t make a call or post a blog or plough it in a
cornfield big enough for Google earth to see. She didn’t feel alive yet.
The e-mail I received
came after she’d been on a surf trip with a charity called First Descents.
First Descents organise (properly challenging) challenges not just for those
still fighting the cancer in their bodies, but also for young adult survivors, who
are still fighting- fighting the
towering impact of cancer in their minds and their souls. Her e-mail sounds
like... her again. It describes not a
‘cancer club’, but a group of young adults together just trying not to fall off
(or hit themselves in the face with) their surfboards. Cowabunga!
Meghan is currently
training for a half-marathon to raise funds for this empowering charity. She’s
also a truly great writer- here’s her (hilarious) training blog- read it and be
inspired. http://asskickedcancerrunners.tumblr.com/
Check out the First Descents website at http://firstdescents.org/about-us
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