Survivor Stories 2014:
Dr. Janet Crain
1. How did you first find out you had cancer?
I was standing at the bus stop seeing my daughter go on a class trip and noticed a lump on my neck.
2. How did you react when you heard the news?
My first thought was my son is in first grade and needs me to help him read. My daughter is in middle school and needs me to drive her to dancing school. I didn’t want an evil step mom to care for them.
3. What course of treatment were you prescribed?
First radiation and then when I had a recurrence of the cancer, chemotherapy and an experimental drug.
4. What most surprised you about your treatment?
How sick I was but how fast it worked and I could breathe again.
5. What would your advice be to anyone who’s just received a cancer diagnosis?
Don’t go on the internet and weed your garden of negative people.
6. How long have you been cancer free?
I don’t like to count because it makes me nervous but my son just graduated college. My last treatment was when he was in 8th grade.
7. What lessons did you learn from the experience?
So many. The most important is cancer gave me the chance to reinvent myself and take charge of my life.
8. If you could send one message to all the Good Enough Mothers out there – what would it be?
Life gets serious when you have advanced stage cancer it is hard to focus on the fun of an ordinary day. When you are sweating the small stuff it means your life is going well.
Dr. Janet Crain is an international lecturer who focuses on the principle that negative personal relationships and other stressors are important factors which can interfere with her patients’ recovery from the pain and stress from which they suffer. One of her primary goals is to help her patients to understand and overcome the emotional connection to their symptoms, resulting in physical and psychological healing and the restoration of balance in their lives. Dr. Crain shared her Life Lessons in our regular feature earlier this year which you can find here. She can be reached at drc@janetcrain.com.
