Walk a mile in these shoes..I bet you trip.

I have been so touched by the recent outpouring of emails from fellow Osteosarcoma survivors, caregivers or those that are still in treatment. When I started this blog a few years ago it really was just my way of dealing with survivorship. I never realized the impact it might have on others in various stages of their own journey.

When I was 15 and newly in treatment I spent hours, and when I say hours I mean HOURS, on the internet searching for anything and everything about Osteosarcoma. I wanted to chat with people who have had it, were over it, and beyond! I had the hardest time connecting and searching for information about my recent new found “normal”. I needed to know that I was going to be ok, somehow. The internet was still slow and people were still getting use to the idea of putting your personal life out there.  Amazing how a decade changes things. So much information is now available. CSN was just getting started and hardly anyone used it back then. Now so many people are connected through such a wonderful site!

I am coming up on 13 years cancer free, May 10^th to be exact.  I love that day. I don’t really do much different anymore but I know inside I just feel different.  It marks milestones that no one else can comprehend unless you have walked a mile in my shoes. Let me tell you, to walk a mile in these shoes TAKES FOREVER and I may or may not trip a few times in the process! J Ok, Ok. I WILL most definitely trip a time or two. But I do walk, and I do finish.  That by itself is an accomplishment and something worth celebrating! My friends and family have two full years to get the planning done on my BIG 15 year party…(*cough* just a hint..)

All that to say, those of you who have stumbled upon my blog by accident or on purpose, THANK YOU.  If you have walked a mile in my shoes, Osteosarcoma is no easy road. I have been down it and back. I have had flats, detours, rough rides and long breaks. I AM HERE. I AM HEALTHY. I HAVE SURVIVED.  Take heart. You will have one heck of a fight but life is too sweet not to give it a try! My husband and two boys seem pretty glad I did! J

If you are searching for more survivors that have walked a mile in your shoes check out http://csn.cancer.org/. It was such a  help to me over the years! One amazing survivor of Osteosarcoma has SEVERAL shoes to fill but is still going strong, Jothy Rosenberg! Check his website out Who says I can't? He has such an inspiring book out that I think everyone should read, cancer or not! Damian Buchman is another fellow survivor that I have just recently met and he is doing wonderful things for his community despite his limb salvage surgery. Check out what he is up to at the Ability Center.