My Story

Life throws curve balls constantly; that’s what living is – learning how to dodge them. It’s ok, I had the ultimate dodge ball partner, and we had been accomplishing challenges of all sizes seamlessly together for over thirteen years.

In February of 2019, I was thirty-five weeks pregnant with our third child when we got the ultimate curveball of all – cancer.

The six months following would be filled with panic, desperation, and fingerlings of hope mingled amidst the daily grind of caring for a 3.5-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a newborn baby.

It was hard, really hard. Painfully, I became more of a caregiver and less of a wife. It was a role with growing needs, in addition to the already demanding schedule of young children.
Chris died in August of 2019. I struggle with his loss, but also the trauma of cancer itself and what I went through during his diagnosed period.

Over those months after the house was asleep, if I wasn’t earning my internet degree in curing cancer, I searched to find others like me. I know how hard that can be too.

Eighteen months after my husband Chris died, I received my cancer diagnosis of an advanced cervical tumour. I fought to be listened to, was turned away from the hospital, and was seen as a newly widowed young mother with health anxiety.

Once diagnosed, I embarked on a treatment course that included chemotherapy, external beam radiation, internal radiation (brachytherapy) and blood & iron transfusions. Follow-up scans have shown residual tumour on my cervix; we are currently taking a “wait and see” approach.

This is my story as I move forward, rediscover who I am, and rebuild my life from (almost) scratch. If I can help someone else feel less alone and close my wounds a little bit, then I have accomplished what I’ve set out to do.

Sincerely,
Janice