A Positive : A move to Prince Edward Island.

A Negative : Being away from family and friends.

A Bit of Advice: Listen to your body. Rest and be gentle with yourself. Take time.

-Margaret, Ovarian Cancer Survivor

A Positive : A move back to Colorado and being closer to family.

A Negative : Not being able to have children which led to my divorce.

A Bit of Advice: Be gentle with yourself and when you get to the other side and no more treatment take time to stop and don’t panic find your new normal.

-Kathy, Endometrial Cancer Survivor

A Positive : My diagnosis, though many years after its inception, taught me how to really live. It taught me how to play and frolic and dance and sing, and all of the things typically associated with childhood. I know now that these things are childish, they are necessary.

A Negative : Post trauma stress disorder, survivor’s guilt, and an underlying, ever present fear that the shoe will drop, and I will have cancer again.

A Bit of Advice: Find a group, like Teal Diva, to support you. Community is everything.

-Camille, Ovarian Cancer Survivor

A Positive : I took early retirement and love it.

A Negative : Seeing the hurt and worry in my loved one’s face especially my dad and partner.

A Bit of Advice: Advocate for yourself, do research, ask questions, and ask for help when you need it.

-Gillian, Ovarian Cancer Survivor

A Positive : I’ve learned from my cancer diagnosis to live in the moment.

A Negative : A negative thing that has come out of my diagnosis is the unknown and worrying.

A Bit of Advice: The advice I would give is ask lots of questions to your doctor and nurses. If you’re not comfortable with your doctor get a second opinion.

-Jennette, Ovarian Cancer Survivor

A Positive : I learned that I am as strong as I want to be. I thought I was before but the diagnosis showed me I really was that strong super women even though I didn’t know how I could do it all.

A Negative : Losing people I thought were in my corner. When you get this diagnosis you think your people are there but ultimately you find they are not.

A Bit of Advice: Find your real tribe and don’t be surprised when the tribe you thought you had are not there. Embrace the new people God puts in your life and let go of the ones he removes.

-Margaret, Ovarian Cancer Survivor

A Positive : After I came to terms with my diagnosis, I have often referred to it as a gift. I was forced to face my own mortality, and in doing this, I learned what it means to truly live in the moment. I decided I did not want to waste a moment of this precious time I have here on this earth, so I try to truly live each day to the fullest.

A Negative : My daughter had just turned 16 when I got diagnosed and I went through treatments on and off for over 2 1/2 years. I feel like some of the best years of my daughter’s life are now tainted with us both having to go through this. I feel like I wasn’t always able to be fully present because I was worried about whether or not I would be here to get to see her graduate.

A Bit of Advice: Give yourself permission to have a pity party, cry, and get angry, but then make the decision to go into warrior mode to fight this battle. I was constantly being told that I had such a positive attitude and I was handling it all so well, and although I was not always feeling this way, I decided that I was going to pretend that my life was normal, even when it was far from normal. I never let myself think that I wouldn’t beat my cancer, and I used alternative treatments along with the traditional treatments. I never wanted to think that I didn’t do everything I could to beat the cancer. A positive attitude is a must! When you’re feeling ok, do the things you love and accept the offers for help! This was something I had to learn to do because I’m very independent and rarely ask for help. Talk to other women who have been through it already and use your friends and family as a support system.

-Bryna, Vaginal Cancer Survivor