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Lisa’s Fight Like a Girl Story (Myasthenia Gravis, Lupus, Cancer)

Lisa's Story Myasthenia Gravis, Lupus, CancerHi! My name is Lisa Douthit. I feel like I have been battling disease my whole adult life. I even wrote a book titled Wellness Warrior – Fighting For Life In Fabulous Shoes to talk about some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way and what worked to help me feel better.

At 26-years-old, my doctor found a tumor in my heart. During surgery, he found nodes containing Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After chemo and radiation, I got thyroid cancer. Treatments were rough, but there was an end in sight, so I fought on and beat cancer (insert high-five here). Then came the autoimmune. It was a terrible disease I couldn’t even pronounce. Myasthenia Gravis brought me to my knees, but here is what I learned: WE ARE NEVER A VICTIM TO DISEASE. We may have bad days, really bad days, but they are just moments in time. They pass. Our job is to persevere. To fight. And to never give up. Never ever.

Through this experience, I’ve learned how strong I can be. I’ve also learned more about compassion, self-love in spite of the circumstances, empathy for others and myself, and balance. I don’t know if I could have done any of that had I not gotten sick. We all have our lessons to learn in life, and I believe everything is our teacher. We may not have a choice in our path though life, but we absolutely can decide how we walk down it. If I had the option to skip disease, would I do it? Hell, yes! But I don’t. So I make the best of what I got. I feel that my job now is to learn and grow in the process. I have become a Warrior. Strong. Brave. And for that I am truly grateful.

Lisa
California
Submitted 08/28/2015

The informational content of this article is intended to convey a personal experience and, because every person’s experience is unique, should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.

This article is intended to convey general educational information and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.

4 comments

  1. Isaura

    Hello Lisa!

    I read your post and it is really inspiring.

    Here in our blog http://lymphomanewstoday.com/ we gather the latest news on lymphoma and other types of blood cancer. We keep patients updated about new treatments, drugs and trials.

    We are trying to reach more people, now through social media, and it would be incredible if you could write about us if you could record/film yourself encouraging people to beat cancer. We could share it in our platforms 🙂

    You can really make such huge difference.

    Hope you can join us.

    Love,

    Isaura

    • Brigitte Estelle Gaudreault

      Well said Isaura, and thank you for reaching out to others as well !
      From Canada,
      Brigitte Estelle

  2. Brigitte Estelle Gaudreault

    Bonjour Lisa,

    My sister’s name is Diane Gaudreault , in the ” non-hodgkins lymphoma section ” under the story title Brigitte Estelle fights like a girl for her sister. Would be honored if you could encourage my sister with your words of wisdom.

    Reading your story was educational, heartwarming! You have a warm way of writing about such a hard disease. Reminding others to keep on smiling, and to keep on fighting! Keep writing, reach out to anyone and everyone, encouraging others to go forward with strength!
    Thank you for sharing and caring!
    With love from Canada,
    Brigitte Estelle

  3. Diane Gaudreault

    Thankyou for sharing your true encouraging story of your disease .. I too have NHL for 2 yrs and its not curable but controlled by lots of treatments. I will never ever give up life is too precious.. My dogs need me and I need them just as more.. I miss my family in Canada as I live in New Zealand but rest assured that I am in their thoughts and there is Skype too.. 🙂
    Take care of yourself x

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