Incredible Woman #52 - Lynn Woodard. "I am a..."

KARA: "What advice would you give to friends and family of a newly diagnosed breast cancer patient?"

LYNN: "A survivor will have many what I call...Bigger than me days! I personally started writing my motivational blog a month before I was diagnosed with Cancer for the 2nd time, here is what I wrote about my Bigger Than Me Days!

"When I was diagnosed with Cancer almost 7 years ago, one important thing that I learned was that there would be days that are bigger than me, or I should say bigger than my ability to handle them. I learned to just realize that they are going to be there and not to stress too much about them. I also noted, that if there were a lot of those days, then I needed to worry about that and take action. I don't have a lot of them, but I have seemed to struggle more than normal this past week and so I didn't write in my blog. Then a dear friend said to me, "But you should write about those days because we all have them and it is good to know that you aren't the only one."

So friends and family: just listen, just be there... you just need to support them in all the decisions they make. Don't try to tell them what to do or not do, it is their body and their battle. They will know what to do. Let them feel and hurt, but just be there for them when they need you. NO one wants to go through Recnac ( cancer ) alone!"

KARA: "Finish this sentence… “I am a..."

LYNN: "I am a daughter of God, a wife, mother, Nana (grandmother), sister, friend. I am blessed!"

Lynn asked me to share this cute picture of her little sweetie pie grandkids:

That picture says it all - it's all the reason in the world to fight Cancer!

Thanks to Lynn this week, for sharing this difficult journey with us. It's women like Lynn who got me through my cancer journey. She has given so much great advice this week - advice that anyone can use, whether they are a cancer patient, or not. Thanks so much! I hope all of you enjoyed going PINK this week! Have a great weekend. (Fall break... here I come!)

Incredible Woman #52 - Lynn Woodard. Advice...

KARA: "Do you have a favorite book or quote or song that became meaningful to you during your cancer journey?"

LYNN: "With my first cancer, the song I memorized was Bring on the Rain. Can't remember the artist that sang it right now. My favorite books were the scriptures, I never read them so desperately and deeply as I did then, because I knew that is ultimately where I would find my answers, and peace. The type of peace that the world could not give me! I also love the book CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SURVIVORS SOUL, it had a ton of survivor's stories and experiences. It was nice to know you aren't the only one going through some of these things!"

KARA: "What advice would you give to a woman who is newly diagnosed with breast cancer?"

LYNN: "So, I keep thinking to myself what I tell other women who I counsel about when things of this magnitude hit their lives? The first thing is to get all the information, next to pick their team mates - who are your main supporters that become so vital for you? Make sure you only pick people who believe in you and support you in whatever decision you make, people who trust that you have the wherewithall to make the right decision. There are tons of people out there willing to give you their opinions and remind you of all the things that could go wrong and tell you what to do, even though they have never been in this situation before. Personally, I wouldn't pick them to support you. Making decisions like these are Big and you don't need any bad energy that some people have to share. I would tell these sweet women to get back to the basics, find out what their core beliefs are. Do they believe in a God or not? That is real important, because these situations make you face exactly how much you can take, and it is vital to know that you don't have to do any of this ALONE unless you choose to. And last,but not least, I would say to them have FAITH - faith to know that we all have the answers inside us to the tough questions that come in our lives. Faith that your Heavenly Father will be there and will help you fight these battles. Faith in the Savior Jesus Christ, He truly understands what we are going through and will help comfort us and give us a peace that the world doesn't have to offer. The women like I mentioned before, that I have met along the way in life, are amazing women and they all seem to be tougher than they even imagined that they could be. Everyone of them come from all walks of life, all different religious beliefs, but understand that we are given these things for a reason and we all have been the better and stronger for it.

I keep reading this poem that I have on my mirror and I know that it helps me realize the bigger picture of life, instead of dwelling on the problems that I am having right now. It goes like this...

"OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS NOT THAT WE ARE INADEQUATE. OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS THAT WE ARE POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE. IT IS OUR LIGHT, NOT OUR DARKNESS, THAT MOST FRIGHTENS US. WE ASK OURSELVES, WHO AM I TO BE BRILLIANT, GORGEOUS, TALENTED, FABULOUS? ACTUALLY, WHO ARE YOU NOT TO BE? YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD. YOUR PLAYING SMALL DOES NOT SERVE THE WORLD. THERE IS NOTHING ENLIGHTENING ABOUT SHRINKING SO THAT OTHER PEOPLE WON'T FEEL UNSURE AROUND YOU. WE WERE BORN TO MAKE MANIFEST THE GLORY OF GOD THAT IS WITHIN US. IT IS NOT JUST IN SOME OF US; IT IS IN EVERYONE. AS WE LET OUR OWN LIGHT SHINE, WE UNCONSCIOUSLY GIVE OTHER PEOPLE PERMISSION TO DO THE SAME. AS WE ARE LIBERATED FROM OUR OWN FEAR, OUR PRESENCE AUTOMATICALLY LIBERATES OTHERS." -Marianne Williamson

Join us tomorrow for the last day of our PINK WEEK with Lynn.

Incredible Woman #52 - Lynn Woodard. Lessons learned, and Changes

KARA: "What did you learn during your cancer journey?"

LYNN: "I learned that with the help of my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ that I can do just about anything. I have become much closer to Christ, how grateful I am that He suffered all things so that He would know how to succor His people. I know that when no one else understood my fears, worries, thoughts... that He did and He was there to comfort and strengthen me. I will always be grateful for this experience and the opportunity to know Him better!"

KARA: "What have you changed as a result of your cancer diagnosis?"

LYNN: "Time has changed for me. I am not nearly in such a hurry any more. I want to appreciate and spend each minute that I have left here on earth. Some things that I thought were so important have now lessed in my priorities. I want to slow down and enjoy every little thing more!"

Join us again tomorrow, as my interview with Lynn continues...

Incredible Woman #52 - Lynn Woodard. Hardest Thing, and What Helped...

KARA: "What was the hardest thing you had to go through during your cancer journey?"

LYNN: "Nights are the worst! Why, is it that the night time is the hardest when you are sick, lonely, sad or concerned about something? It is like the whole world is asleep and you are left completely alone with your thoughts.

It is weird remembering things that I experienced almost 9 years ago with my cancer, in some ways it is better because I know what to expect. Still in other ways it is worse, because I KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT!"

KARA: "What helped get you through it?"

LYNN: "Three things helped us that stand out in my mind. First is we changed the name Cancer to Recnac (that is Cancer spelled backwards). That was my kids' idea 9 years ago when I was diagnosed with Recnac for the first time. We decided as a family that Recnac was alot easier to talk about, not as scary and that we actually took some power from the cancer when we did that. Sounds funny but it worked. When my kids would tell anyone that their Mom had cancer, they would in return talk about all their family or friends who had cancer. Most of those stories weren't very good ones, and in most of the end of the story ... someone died. To this day, we don't know anyone who died from Recnac. We are not just trying to be ignorant or silly about such a serious disease, we just needed to take back some of our power and that is exactly what Recnac did for us. My son even designs a Recnac logo and we use it on the Recnac gifts that we have created for other survivors. Hopefully someday you will see them out there and available to your loved one who have been diagnosed with Recnac. We even designed Recnac monsters for little kids who are going through Recnac themselves or who have a loved one going through it!

Second is ...Knowledge is power! I do know that no problem, trial or pain that we experience is wasted. With these struggles come the ability to develop more patience, faith, courage and humility. Life truly changes when you go through trials of this magnitude and it is up to me if it changes for the better or worse. So no matter whether I think I can do this ...ready or not...I need to start moving forward with more faith and courage.

Third is...the love of family and friends! They were my rocks!"

KARA: "How did your cancer diagnosis change your life?"

LYNN: "I am much more patient and compassionate. I seem to be watching people more, wondering what type of battle they are fighting on their own and how I can help them. I truly understand what it means to have chronic pain. Along with cancer, I have had many problems with my health. I now judge less often. We just don't know by looking at someone, how their life is going."

Tomorrow, Lynn will talk about what she learned during her cancer journey, and how she changed during that time. Please join us again.

Incredible Woman #52 - Lynn Woodard. Diagnosis, and Family...

The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and THIS WEEK, WE ARE GOING PINK HERE ON INCREDIBLE WOMEN!

I'm a Breast Cancer survivor - it's not a title I ever wanted. It's not a "club" I ever wanted to be part of. BUT... I am. This "club" - this sisterhood - is actually an incredible thing. Because I'm a "member", I've been privileged to meet several wonderful women who are survivors as well. One of those women is a good friend, Janie Squire - my first "Incredible Woman" here on this blog. Through Janie I was introduced to Lynn Woodard - who is also a Breast Cancer survivor (2 times!). She's got a wonderful blog that I've enjoyed reading. I've been waiting a whole year to interview Lynn, so that her interview would be posted during October. So, this week I'm really happy to introduce you to Lynn Woodard. I know you'll be amazed by her story, and by Lynn herself. (Lynn has shared some of the posts from her blog in answer to some of the questions.) Enjoy!!!


KARA: "What were you diagnosed with, and what treatments did you have?"

LYNN: "The battle begins... Breast cancer again - November 2008! Someone once said that it is scary to go into a battle when you know nothing about your enemy,not their strategies, their weapons, defense and so on. I really believe that is true, and that is why we have felt such incredible fear lately. We knew that we had to fight cancer again but... didn't know any details of size, growth, type or anything else, so finally tonight we got the long awaited call. I am so tired that I will try to make this short and hopefully be able to at least inform you of what we are up against. I need to remember that you don't need or probably want to know ,all the numbers and figures that they gave us tonight and so I will try to summarize it.
We received good and bad news tonight, but we felt more good than bad. I guess with all the surprises and stats that we had, we thought the worst was ahead of us, so in some ways, it seemed a bit hopeful. (haven't said that word of a while) So here at the notes and I will try to explain them.

*The lump node that they did the biopsy on and were almost sure was positive for cancer WAS NOT. (GOOD)
*The two tumors were smaller than they originally measured (GOOD)
*Both tumors are what they call ICTIS cancer, that just means that they have spread past their cell was and have infiltrated the breast tissue (BAD)
*The number of how fast the tumor is spreading, is lower than they expected it to be (GOOD)
*The possibility and probability of losing the breast is high (BAD)


KARA: "How did your cancer diagnosis affect your family and friends?"

LYNN: "Jeff, of course, was my rock as usual. I would have never made it this far in life without him. What an amazing man he is. Amy, John, Brad and Krystal already knew about the previous tests and concerns of the past 3 weeks but we hadn't worried Lee and Lauren with it ...just in case there was no need. It was hard telling Lee and Lauren, they both really cried hard and I could see that fear crept back into their eyes. I was up till 11:00pm trying to reassure Lee that things will be alright and that we will never be given more than we can handle.

Almost 7 years ago when I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, I remember crying and being depressed all the time,for the first few days and the kids did the same. It didn't take me too long to remember that I was the mom, the heart of the home and that I needed to some how pull myself together. I asked Amy (my oldest daughter) yesterday if she was really alright. Her reply was classic "I'm ok MOM, if you are ok?"

And so I need to be ok, for my sake, for my families' sake. We have fought this battle before, and I am sure we can do it again. I wish that I wasn't so TIRED. It is much harder to fight when you are this exhausted but... we will."

Please come back for a few minutes each day - I'll share 2 questions/answers from my interview with Lynn each day. See you tomorrow.