Elephants and Tea - December 2023 - 48

Conversation LESSONS LEARNED WITH LISA
You're Not Alone If...
THE THINGS THAT ONCE BROUGHT YOU JOY PREVIOUS TO YOUR
DIAGNOSIS DON'T FULFILL YOU IN THE SAME WAY
YOU FIND YOURSELF GRAVITATING TOWARD PEOPLE
WHO GET WHAT YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH
YOU DON'T HAVE THE PATIENCE FOR CERTAIN THINGS
OR PEOPLE THAT YOU ONCE DID
IT HAS TAKEN TIME TO REDISCOVER WHAT IS IMPORTANT
TO YOU AFTER ALL YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH
W
48
ELEPHANTSANDTEA.COM
DECEMBER 2023
hen you are smacked in the face with a cancer diagnosis, it often
feels like every other part of your life dissolves and disappears,
at least for a little while. Your mind is only able to focus on the
fact that you have cancer. Questions swirl through your head:
What will treatment entail? How will I handle it all? Will I have
any support? Will I survive? Treating your cancer essentially
becomes a full time job ... one that you must do while also maintaining any job you previously
had, the friendships and relationships you had, taking care of pets or children that you
may have, and so on. Cancer is a daily battle of both logistical and emotional difficulties, and
often, these difficulties continue long after your initial diagnosis, and even after your doctors
deem you " stable " or " cancer free. " Into survivorship, when the people in your life expect you
to move on from it all, you may feel as though you need to play " catch up. " You may feel like
things that were once important to you don't matter quite as much anymore. You may feel
a seismic shift in your priorities and goals (both short- and long-term) . . . OR, deep down,
you know you are the same person you have always been, just one who has been through
some things and is working to try to feel whole again. There is no right or wrong way to be
a " survivor. " Wherever you fall in this vast spectrum of rediscovery after cancer, know that
you are not alone. I'm right there with you trying to figure it all out. So pause and take a deep
breath with me, won't you? We will figure this out day by day, moment by moment, together.
LISA ORR IS A PROUD WIFE AND MOTHER OF TWO BOYS, AGES EIGHT AND SIX,
WHO LIVES JUST NORTH OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. SHE IS A FOUR-YEAR
TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR AND A FORMER ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL TEACHER. SHE NOW DEVOTES HER TIME TO HELP OTHER YOUNG
ADULTS FACING A CANCER DIAGNOSIS THROUGH HER WORK AS THE DIRECTOR
OF MARKETING FOR THE STEVEN G. CANCER FOUNDATION AND ELEPHANTS
AND TEA MAGAZINE AND THROUGH HER PODCAST, DON'T CALL IT A JOURNEY
(STREAMING ON APPLE PODCASTS AND SPOTIFY). IN HER FREE TIME SHE
LOVES TO WRITE, COOK, TRAVEL, AND ENJOYS SPENDING TIME WITH HER
FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

http://www.ELEPHANTSANDTEA.COM

Elephants and Tea - December 2023

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