Choose - hope - survive then thrive

The following is an edited version of what was to be my oral "Pitch Slam" at the Writers Digest August 2019 National Conference in New York. I was to present it in about 1 1/2 minutes before a few potential agents. I didn't go to New York because one of my cancer tumors had flaired up causing incredible pain. I was able to make it back as far as Edmonton to go to a cancer specialist at the Cross Cancer Institute and that was when a special Pain Management Team was put in place for my particular case. So here is my proposed pitch:

My tag line: Cancer Survivor, Author, Speaker: Choose – Hope – Survive.

I am glad to be alive today. Twice in the past 4 years I was told I would die within 8 months from Stage 4 kidney cancer. The purpose of my book is to inspire cancer sufferers and their caregivers to seek longer life and find joy in recovery – to Choose – Hope – Survive. I use story-telling and poems to add to my writing style. I emphasize that you can combine cancer treatment with practical natural healing to survive terminal cancer and still reach your dreams. I know that’s true because I am here! I used the methods of this book in the face of aggressive Stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma and my two near-death experiences. Now for a short summary of the book.

Anyone who suffers from cancer can prolong life. If the prognosis is weeks or months to live, accept your feelings, challenge them and choose life – longer life. Don’t accept the mortality statistics for your cancer. You are an individual, not a statistic. Take charge of your own health. Choose Life. That very personal choice turns fear into excitement, enhances healing, and brings Hope. You will hear the birds and smell the buds of spring again! Then take the steps necessary to Survive. First, accept whatever the doctor prescribes – radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy. Then, find complementary alternative healing methods for your cancer – take ownership of your own health. There’s more. The power of belief is a clinical fact. If you believe you will recover, you probably will. If you accept the doctor’s prognosis of weeks to live – guess what – you will die within that time! So, remember: Choose – Hope – Survive!

I still want to write this book, and I have written the introductory chapters. Going from wanting to write it to actually getting it done is another matter. Maybe I will blog those initial chapters just to get the book moving along. Oh yes, the title of this post says Choose - hope - survive then thrive. That idea comes from the fact that survival isn't enough, because often survival is still filled with unresolved trauma and fear. We want to learn to thrive in recovery.

Part of my experience in going from survive to thrive is to consciously be thankful every morning I wake up to a new day.That thankfulness, and thinking about all the different individual blessings that enter that thankfulness, brings me onward toward joy.

Now for those of you who are interested in following other cancer recovery journeys I strongly recommend that you take a look at my buddy Rob Truscott's website and blog at
https://cancersuckschronicles.ca/blog/. As you can tell Rob is pretty good at web design.