Gilda's Club Royal Oak: A Short Story
Barely eleven months after my husband and I married our world collapsed around us. Forever etched in my mine is what the doctor revealed, “Much to our surprise, it was cancer.” Seven words with the power to change our lives forever.
Two years prior, my Mom died from ovarian cancer. At the time of my diagnosis, I did not know a single person living who had experienced cancer; my Mom, my Mom’s best friend, my Grandpa Ed, our neighbor across the street, my best friend’s mom, all gone. Consequently, I was unsure what this meant for my survival, if that was even possible.
Amid all the turbulence, my husband was my rock, supporting me at every step. He attended every appointment, researched so I could reach informed decisions, and anticipated my …show more content…
Although we all were coping with breast cancer, the other women had children my age and were in a different stage of life with different worries. On my mind was being a newlywed and thinking of starting a family. I still felt lost.
One day at a particular meeting, a group leader asked me, “Would you be interested in a group for young survivors?” Under development at Gilda’s Club Royal Oak is a new breast cancer survivor group specifically for younger women. Once that group began, I attended every month, only missing a handful of meetings over the next five plus years. In the beginning, I needed support to understand how others managed, so I, too, could learn how to cope with my new life. While friendships blossomed, we exchanged information, ideas, laughter, hugs, and tears.
Eventually, I metamorphosed into a valuable resource for newly diagnosed women. In those latter years, I gained more from the meetings than I did in the beginning of my journey. Since I remembered how frightened and isolated I felt at diagnosis, I grasped their worries and fears while providing these women the support they desperately
Two years prior, my Mom died from ovarian cancer. At the time of my diagnosis, I did not know a single person living who had experienced cancer; my Mom, my Mom’s best friend, my Grandpa Ed, our neighbor across the street, my best friend’s mom, all gone. Consequently, I was unsure what this meant for my survival, if that was even possible.
Amid all the turbulence, my husband was my rock, supporting me at every step. He attended every appointment, researched so I could reach informed decisions, and anticipated my …show more content…
Although we all were coping with breast cancer, the other women had children my age and were in a different stage of life with different worries. On my mind was being a newlywed and thinking of starting a family. I still felt lost.
One day at a particular meeting, a group leader asked me, “Would you be interested in a group for young survivors?” Under development at Gilda’s Club Royal Oak is a new breast cancer survivor group specifically for younger women. Once that group began, I attended every month, only missing a handful of meetings over the next five plus years. In the beginning, I needed support to understand how others managed, so I, too, could learn how to cope with my new life. While friendships blossomed, we exchanged information, ideas, laughter, hugs, and tears.
Eventually, I metamorphosed into a valuable resource for newly diagnosed women. In those latter years, I gained more from the meetings than I did in the beginning of my journey. Since I remembered how frightened and isolated I felt at diagnosis, I grasped their worries and fears while providing these women the support they desperately