I will say it again and I will say as many times as I have to because I need you to hear me. “Everybody thinks the worst is over when treatment ends”. That’s been so far from the truth. Don't get me wrong 18 months of chemotherapy was hell for me, but it has nothing on what I endured the last five years. For nine long years I have been fighting to stay alive and it is not easy. To the outside world, I might look perfectly fine, but if you could only see inside of me, you would see my suffering. I live in a dark world and I smile because that’s all I have left. My future is so uncertain that it is scary. They say if you become comfortable with change it’s not scary. How could anyone become comfortable with what I have lived through. I want to tell you my story because it has not been easy. They are so many other men and women just like me and we don’t have the support we need to survive. How can we say we survived breast cancer if we don't survive all the risk and damage that came with it. There are many types of support groups and programs to help you when you actively receiving treatment. But where are the groups and programs for us surviving? Look it up do your research so many breast cancer survivors are homeless and financially ruined or both, this shouldn't be a cancer side effect for us.
Don’t feel sorry, I still have some fight in me. Trust me, I will find a way to ensure no one else has to face the possibility of homelessness or struggling to make ends meet not in my community. It is bad enough we had to fight cancer, we should not have to fight for our livelihood too.
My breast cancer journey is not pretty and it needs to be told because something must be done to stop it from happening to others. You can stand with me or be against me, the choice is yours.