YOU ARE NOT ALONE

posted Thursday, 1 December 2005

The NNJ branch of the YSC (Young Survivor Coalition) hosted their first annual Survivor Celebration this evening. I decided to hike up to north jersey to check it out, hoping that at least there would be some good (free) food! Halfway there, I had a sudden realization: " what if nobody likes me and I sit by myself all night, looking awkward? worse - what if the dinner is just sandwiches and i drove all the way up here (1 1/2 hrs) for a bad dinner eaten all by myself??" My friend Mellen reassured me, and I continued on my way.

As I strode through the reception area at the hotel hosting the event, a woman approached me and asked if I was looking for the YSC event. Ok, I am so ready for my hair to grow back so that I am not the easily recognizable girl with cancer. But I guess it beat me walking around for hours, looking for the event.

I signed in and was handed a pink goody bag (actually had some nice stuff in it) and joined the other 20/30-somethings mingling in the room. Conversation was a little bit strained... but not terrible. I mean, we all knew we had one thing in common, but do you really want to open your conversation with "hey, are you estrogen receptor positive? --Me too!!!!" Two women were heading back out to the hotel bar to grab a glass of wine, so I jumped in and asked them to "wait for me!" Beth & Sue turned out to be pretty easy to talk to. On the way to & from the bar, we realized that we were all athletes... and not just gals who do aerobics (no offense to those gals, but that's who the YSC put Beth in touch with when she wanted to talk to someone else who was into sports), but pretty hard core athletes. Beth & Sue play on a club field hockey team. Beth was diagnosed 3 years ago - had chemo, mastectomy, reconstruction...the works... and was back out on the field... alas! Someone who could relate to my freakish woes about being able to play again! She confirmed that her saline implants were pretty darn sturdy and withstood some bruising and banging out on the field! Excellent news! And new friends!

The evening was 100% worth the drive (dinner was tasty too!)... not sure that I will trudge back up there for their monthly meetings, but it's good to know this group exists. And, honestyly, it was nice to see that I wasn't alone... that there are other folks my age dealing with similar situations... not that I wish to see others battling as myself (I certainly don't wish it on anyone!) but there was something about being in a room of 30 young women, who had fought and won... and continue the fight...