Fight Like a Girl Club Cancer Stories, Survivor Stories, Support and Inspiration

In 2011, after 20+ years of marriage, I finally had the courage to leave a man I no longer recognized. I won’t get into the issues – suffice to say, you can NOT control anyone but yourself and all the prayers in the world sometimes aren’t answered in the way …

The Beauty Behind The Trauma of Adoption “Unfortunately, I’m that kid.” The one whose birth mom was a sex worker in South Africa, who was HIV positive (no that does not mean I have it, that’s another story), and who handed me in to the police station when I was …

In 2014, I was a normal, everyday mother. I have 3 children. One who is grown, Ryan (23), and a now 17-year-old daughter, Marissa, and a 13-year-old Down Syndrome Daughter, Alexa. I was working toward my nursing degree, and I was 3 years into my pre-requisites. I had suffered with …

I found a lump in December. In January, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I just finished round 4 of chemo. I still have 12 remaining. I work a full time job with the USPS. I am also a full time single mom of a beautiful 18-month-old girl. I don’t …

I was ejected from a motor vehicle five years ago, which resulted in two brain hemorrhages from multiple skull fractures. The doctors revived me several times and implanted three titanium plates in my head. In addition to brain damage, I deal with a lot of head pain and pain from …

Read Amelia’s original Power Story submission here. Two years ago, I submitted a story about finding out I had been suffering from CRPS since my tendon transfer surgery in 2003. The tale was slightly less general then I expected to be, and the outcome was very nice. However, I am now …

I have had stomach problems my entire life, but with age, I started having more. A few years ago, I started to get really nauseous while eating. Literally, I had to stop eating, or I would throw up. The acid reflux was unbearable, and I would throw up clear acid …

Hi, just a year or so ago, my daughter, Cristy, wrote my breast cancer story. I’m nearly 5 years free and so happy. Cristy was with me every step of the way, along with her brothers and my husband. Cristy lives 5-6 hours from me, but every three weeks, she …

At the age of 19, I was diagnosed with stage 3B glassy cell carcinoma cervical cancer. My world was about to be flipped upside down. I was told they had no treatment plan yet, and I would need to be under an experimental trial, but I was up for anything …

Hello! My name is Angela Van Zandt. I’m 42 and a mother of three awesome kids. I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in Oct. ‘17.  I had no prior health concerns before this month. My cancer spread to my liver and lungs. I had surgery to remove a …

I was diagnosed with stage three melanoma in my twenties and spent twenty plus years chasing it around my body. After fifteen years of melanoma-free life, I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. Over the last year, I have had three courses of chemo, a bilateral mastectomy and radiation. I …

You have no idea how much you can handle until it all falls on you in one moment, or repeats over several years. My name is Lisa, and before everything happened, I thought I was a happily married mom of three sons. One was a tween, and two were teens. …

I have debated writing this story, but decided if I can encourage just one person to stay strong and carry on, then it is worth it. I was a 42-year-old divorced mother of 4 and was working 3 to 4 jobs at a time. In March 2010, I was diagnosed …

I am a 40 year old mom of 2 living in Waterdown, Ontario. In 2016 I was diagnosed with primary AL Amyloidosis with multiple organ involvement. My symptoms started as far back as 2014, but it took me years to get a diagnosis. It is a rare disease and many …

I was diagnosed with breast cancer on October 1, 2013 – the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. From the outset, I vowed to be transparent, and open about my diagnosis and treatment in my journey. I wanted to share my journey in hopes of helping others along the …