The Gift – Paula V.

“It’s hard to find a silver lining when you’ve been told you have cancer for the second time. This has been my life for the past three years. I hold tight to the belief that I am a survivor who is living with, not dying from, advanced metastatic breast cancer. This helps provide the balance, hope, and gratitude I try to find in every moment, and with each person who is a part of my life and recovery. Having cancer is such a dichotomy – at times life moves very quickly with the never-ending commitments of treatment, testing, doctor visits. More than a full time job, to say the least. But what happens, out of choice, maybe out out of necessity, is a slowing down, a re-positioning of ones place in life. I choose to surround myself with friends and family who love and support me unconditionally, who hold onto hope and life, especially during difficult times when I can’t. They are my lifelines, they are my ‘gifts’.”