My Story

In July 2010, I went from being a 25-year-old-living-it-up-in-the-city to a role I hadn’t even briefly imagined for myself: cancer patient. Sitting in the doctor’s office on that fateful day, I became aware of my nerves only after I was told the results of the routine chest x-ray ordered to investigate some difficulty breathing were ‘serious’. A large tumour occupied my entire right chest cavity.

From that moment on, as my friends continued down the paths of most 25-year-olds, making the most of a hot, sticky summer in the city, I veered down an alternate path toward scans, biopsies, late night emergency room visits, and even one ambulance ride. After missing out on all the summer’s wild nights and cottage weekends, I began chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (primary mediastinal large B cell lymphoma to be exact).

After finishing radiation therapy the following Spring of 2010, a whole new challenge awaited me. How was I supposed to transition back into my old life, when my body, health, psyche and outlook on life had so radically changed? Enter 100 Resolutions. Blogging post-treatment about my commitment to taking nothing for granted helped me to believe that my diagnosis, treatment, and recovery wasn't for nothing. I would treasure every meal, run, breath and relationship in a way I couldn't have before being diagnosed.