Dana Stewart 

I was diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago when I was 32 years old. I tended to focus on death more than life, during and after my active treatment ended as I was so fearful of dying of cancer. Through those emotions and anxiety, I started to realize I was not living. I wrote the poem “SHE” to remind me that there was so much life to live before the last tick of my clock. There are always goods and bads, and a life well-lived will have all that.

She likes to think she lived a good life.

Lots of friends, lots of fun and experiences galore.

The word joy was often a visitor in her vocabulary.

She didn’t meddle too much in what could be the downward tailspins.

And she soaked them up like rays from the sun,

And absorbed when there was nowhere to turn.

"You’d miss out," was what she thought.

In that of each person’s final departure letter,

This poem was originally submitted for the CURE® 2021 Poetry Contest.

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I have suffered from PTSD and anxiety for many years thanks to my breast cancer diagnosis 11 years ago when I was 32 years old. Therapy has been my saving grace and that weekly seat on the couch in a therapy session is what has helped me work through the fears, anxiety and emotions that cancer dumps on me daily. “The Couch” is my story of therapy, the cancer that keeps trying to creep into those sessions, and the couch that holds me up.

It is where I sit every week and talk about you.

It’s cozy and quiet and yes, quite comfy.

As if we want to hear what you have to say.

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After my diagnosis of breast cancer 11 years ago when I was 32 years old, I refused to accept the words “new normal.” All I did was think about getting back to my old self. Everything was a constant reminder of what cancer had taken from me. I lost my breasts, my fertility, my hair, my sense of safety and my peace of mind – the list goes on and on. I was forced onto a new path whether I like it or not. The poem "The Taken," is my story of all that cancer has taken.

It’s the stuff that can no longer be seen.

So much left behind in a place where you can only move forward.

Chosen to give up everything without even getting a chance to question.

Without disrupting the nothing that sits above.

Just as the list of sorrows grows in infinity.

To have the opportunity to be released past her heart.

A soul broken at the thought of only keeping them close within,

Refusing to leave any footprints on the surface,

For that is giving in to something she never wanted.

Fury will give in to acceptance none the less;

Admitting defeat is the only hope it has.

She searches deep within and comes to find,

That the soul has a way of using what is lost

A breast cancer survivor expresses her emotions in a poem about all that cancer has taken from her.

Dana Stewart

Fear of Dying From Cancer Shouldn't Stop You From Living

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What Cancer Has Taken

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