It’s not that it’s going to be easy, but it is going to be worth it. You can do it. Keep your head up. Keep pushing. Don’t give up. You’re worth it. Those are just some of the positive affirmations I would write all over my papers from treatment daily.
I never thought I would ever experience the feeling of crawling to the bottom of a dark ocean floor with my daughter. The feeling of the cold dark water as I held on to her for dear life, as I kept crawling forward, my hands gripping the black sand.
In high school, I was the classic overachiever. My identity was (and to a certain extent still is) wrapped up in doing everything and doing it well. I did debate, mock trial, volunteered, danced and loved it. After graduation, I moved away from home to start school at the University of Alaska. Spring semester of my freshman year, I started to run a little tired and achy, but chalked it up to stress and kept going. That summer, I came home and slept for the better part of three months. I started going to doctors and running test after test without any concrete results.
