Here’s Amy Gross, a social worker from Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, speaking on the subject of cancer survivorship. It’s a little on the long side: just over 10 minutes.
She touches on a couple significant topics that make an impression on me. First, Amy points out that there’s no road map to life as a survivor. This is in sharp contrast to the time of treatment, which for most of us was governed by detailed medical protocols. “Now what?” is the question many of us ask, once the last chemo or radiation treatment is ended – and even months and years later.
Second, she speaks of a sort of performance pressure some feel to be “great survivors” – after the example of certain celebrities, who have become poster children for survivorship.
What makes a great survivor? I think it’s being true to who we are, as people. No one of us will do it the same as anybody else.
