23. Holly Boyce on Cancer, Kids and Victorious Healing
Holly Boyce, “I took more from Cancer than it took from me”. Hear how she defeated Cancer.
Holly was living the life she had dreamed of. She was living in her happy home, in a nice neighborhood, with her happy family and then while preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, she discovered a lump the size of a ping-pong ball in her breast, and her life was never the same again.
She was 30 years old and had really thought she was quite invincible in a way that most young people do. The doctor confirmed she had something in there, and in a week she had a mammogram and ultrasound.
They determined it was a mass, not a cyst, and she met with a surgeon to have it removed. They decided to biopsy it and take it out at the same time. It was Dec 23 2009 when she went in for surgery and everybody had predicted it was not cancer.
She went in with humor and asked to wake up with a DD Breast and size 0 waist!! She didn’t wake up with any of these things, but she was given a cancer diagnosis.
Hear Holly’s inspiring story here, about how she overcame cancer while raising two young children.
Holly didn’t want to tell her family that she had cancer a couple of days before Christmas. She felt horrible and although she knew it wasn’t her fault, she felt so badly that she ruined Christmas for everyone.
They muddled through Christmas for the kids, and she had a breakdown, the day after Christmas and cried. She allowed herself that day to be upset and then decided that she was going to be the best cancer patient they ever saw. (Her Achievement Mode Kicked In)
It was hard to watch others cry because it made others cry. She decided to make it funny and wore shirts that said humorous things such as, “Does this shirt make my head look bald?”
Holy’s Journal
She bought a journal and wrote one thing that was positive in it every night. It took about three months and she didn’t need the book anymore as it shifted her whole personality, she then did it automatically! She attributes this lesson the being able to maintain the positive attitude she kept through her treatment.
Treatment
She went through 6 months of chemo, 6 weeks of Radiation and took Tamoxifen for 5 years. She just went off it this month. August 17 2010 She rang the bell to signify that she was done and felt like she really kicked cancers’ but!
Her Light
Holly got through by laughing, with her husband’s support, and staying in a survivor’s mindset.
How To Survive Cancer With Children
Holly told me that attitude is the most important. She did feel she was in control of her attitude, and since children pick up on it so well, she changed the way she was looking at life.
A lesson learned was to accept help. She didn’t want any help and thought she could do it on her own. She was forced into it a few times and ended up liking it. She realized that it gives the people who love you a way to have some control as well. They want to help you, so take it for their benefit and remember, you aren’t meant to do it all on your own!
Healing As A Community!! Holly said, “we can do everything better together!
After Cancer
While you are fighting cancer you have doctors in your life, people helping you and cheering you on. The day comes you ring the bell and walk out, and you are left to process.
Holly felt insane because she felt like she had run a marathon and had no goal set after. She then realized she could have died and gone through what most people thought she would have when she first found out she had it.
It was hard for others to understand, as it appeared she should be happy she had her life back. Holly ended up feeling like she was suddenly a different person dropped into her life.
She became a lot more aware of what she didn’t want and what she actually wanted. She was working all the time every day and then she realized she didn’t love her job and she wanted to be with her kids all the time. Holly was missing a lot of things with her kids.
She began to look at the people in her life as well and realized that the people she thought would be there were not necessarily the ones that were actually there for her. She learned who was genuine and who was not.
It was a time of change and transformation. Holly noticed many of the people around her complained and she didn’t want to be around that. She felt like a butterfly that had come out of a cocoon.
She tells us, “You kind of need to find your new normal, and that is ok”!! Holly wants you to know that it is normal to go through this and you’re not alone!!!
Links
- Holly on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hollyboyce411?ref=py_c
- Listen on Anchor
