Great to see the group back!!

schweetieangel

I was happy to receive the email today that this group is back.

I hope others will find it and it will help with their journey dealing with cancer..

Greg was such a great support and always upbeat he definitely will be missed..

legaljen1969

Good morning. I am glad to see someone else posting and trying to get this discussion up and running.

We have all had such a long break from each other, not that we wanted our little community to fall apart. I think we need to get reacquainted.

I am Jennifer. In my 50's. I had breast cancer. My contact with cancer was very minimal- a Stage 1 cancer. Left mastectomy. Almost 3 years later, no problems. Treating with Arimidex. My original oncologist on my team recently moved from South Carolina out to Oregon. I certainly miss him as he was a great upbeat doctor. I will meet my new oncologist at my next appointment in August. I hear great things about him.

That said, cancer is NOT who I am. It is merely an experience in my life. I realize I am very fortunate that my experience with cancer was so minimal. I think so much about all that have a much more complicated experience. I just want to be here to be supportive of you all, no matter what your experience. Cancer is NOT the end of the world for everyone. For some it is a formidable and difficult beast to conquer. For others, it is an unwelcome stumbling block in life for a season.

I am married. My spouse is a retired military member. He now works on a golf course near our home. He mostly enjoys it. We have a 12 year old cat named Bananas. No kids. I have two beautiful nieces from my brother. The oldest just graduated high school and the youngest starts middle school this year. They are both amazing young women. I work as a legal assistant. I just realized I have been doing this for almost 21 years. Hard to believe.

It can be hard not to let this experience define you. Know that you are never alone. You never fight alone. There is always a community here to support you. Everyone has their own experience. I don't think anyone has the exact same experience as anyone else with this dreaded diagnosis, but it seems there is always someone here who has been where you are- wherever that is. Whether you're just diagnosed, going through radiation, chemotherapy, a clinical trial.

legaljen1969

I know that those of us who have been around for a long time do really miss Greg. I am hoping that some of us can try to carry on his legacy of being helpful and positive. Some of you are really in the fight for your life. Others, like me, know the word cancer and know how it applies to our lives- yet it's still like an acquaintance and not something in our inner circle that we deal with every day.

If any of the people from the previous version of WhatNext are still around, what can we do to carry on Greg's legacy?

Perhaps, for some of the newer folks here, it would be helpful for us to post a memory of Greg and what we believe his legacy to be.

I will start. There were many here who knew Greg for a lot longer than I did. They can probably tell you some amazing stories- funny, powerful and challenging. But here's my two cents worth.

Greg was a fighter. He was determined to slide into home plate with flourish. He was not about to go down without a fight. He was, of course, always a gentleman and treated everyone with respect even when cancer's effects on him could have made him hardened, bitter, upset, despondent. None of those words described Greg at all. He never really complained about anything. I didn't know how advanced his cancer was until I read the announcement that he had passed away. I thought he was just fighting and might have a chance to get better.

He was also deeply and passionately in love with his beautiful wife. They were an amazing team. They took "for better or worse, in sickness and in health" dedication to a whole new level. His wife is a part of his legacy as well.

One of the things that inspired me about Greg was how he used his challenges to learn his own strength and to share with others how he was making it through.