#BraveLikeSarah
Name: Sarah Emerson
Age: 34
Diagnosis: Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (Breast Cancer)
Years of Survivorship: 2.5 years
Location: Portland, Maine
How has running or staying physically active affected your cancer journey?
Being physically active was a huge part of my life before I was diagnosed. I am a marathoner, so running was part of everyday living. Being active during treatment wasn’t just about keeping my mind and body moving, it was also about the social connection it provided for me. Being part of a workout group or run club helped me to get off the couch. Even though I couldn’t run as far or as fast as normal, or workout at the intensity that I was used to, it felt so good to sweat and be with my friends. For that moment in time, it took my mind off everything I was going through and gave me a sense of normalcy in my life.
It’s so easy to isolate and pull away when you have cancer for fear of not being able to “hang with the group,” but if you aren’t afraid to show up some really wonderful things can happen. Not only did running and working out help me stay connected with my friends, but getting a good sweat on helped my mental state as well and likely helped to keep me from getting too depressed. My friends embraced me and ran with me in the back of the back, took walk breaks when I needed to, and never once made me feel bad for the state of my fitness. I also believe that exercise has been extremely beneficial to my recovery from treatments, and that I was able to get through treatments with much more ease because I was staying active.
What advice do you have for people on staying fit throughout their cancer treatment or recovery?
Listen to your body! Don’t try and force anything. Some days I was able to run a mile or two, some days all I could muster was a walk around the block. Many days I couldn’t get out of bed at all. Throw out your training plans, your ideas of what you should do, and don’t compare your level of activity to someone else who also has cancer (or anyone for that matter. YOU are what matters!). Everyone has different treatments, different meds and everyone’s body responds differently. Listening to your body is the best thing you can do because there will be days you feel great! Capitalize on that because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Cancer doesn’t own you so keep control of what you can. There will also be days where you feel awful and your body needs to rest and that is ok. Give yourself permission to “be sick.” If you force yourself to workout and aren’t giving your body the rest it needs, then healing is going to take longer. It’s all about balance, but letting go of any expectations you have for yourself and letting your body guide you was what I found helpful for me.
What are some of your proudest accomplishments since being diagnosed with cancer?
I think I am most proud of continuing to live my life the best I could. Sure, there were plenty of days that I didn’t feel well and had to stay in bed but there were also equally as many days that I felt good. I didn’t want to miss out on life and so when I did feel good, I was active. I worked full-time throughout my treatment, which included 20 weeks of chemotherapy, 3 surgeries, and as I write this I am finishing up 12 months of infusions of an antibody with 3 more months to go. I went to the beach with friends, walked, ran, went hiking, completed the Beach 2 Beacon 10K the day after my 13th round of chemotherapy, supported friends in their road races, went to my son’s summer track meets, got a puppy and just tried not to let cancer rule my life anymore than it had to.
I’m also really proud of the way I have shared my story. From the get-go I decided that I wanted to be very open, honest and raw about what was going on for me. This can be scary, but from sharing my story I have been connected to so many wonderful people who have changed my life and become like family; people that really could understand what I was going through. I have also been given the opportunity to help other women who were struggling, providing some hope to those having a hard time finding any on their own.
How has Gabe's story impacted you or changed the way you view life as a cancer patient/survivor?
I have been a fan of Gabe’s for a few years now. I think the first time I started to follow her running was during the indoor season in early 2014. I love the way she races, how she puts herself out there and runs with such passion. When I first heard that her cancer had come back, I felt for her but never dreamed that I would relate to her. I watched as a fan from afar has she had her surgery and then eased back into running and eventually racing again. She seemed to be so strong and never let cancer stop her from following her dreams and passions.
When I was diagnosed in March of 2017, I thought a lot about Gabe. I watched her race over the summer in the middle of all her treatments, flying from doctors in New York to races in Memphis. She had a goal and never gave up on that goal, and I was moved by that. While I don’t know what it feels like to train and run at the elite level, I do know how exhausting doctor’s appointments, scans, tests, blood work and traveling to and from can all be. I couldn’t imagine racing at the elite level like she was on top of all of that. Her continued passion is what drove me to keep running and stay positive. There were days when running was hard but running also helped me to feel like a normal person. I feel like having some sense of normalcy in your life while undergoing cancer treatments is super important. The days it was hard I would say to myself, “Be brave like Gabe, Sarah.”
One of the reasons I am also so passionate about the Brave Like Gabe foundation is that as a Breast Cancer patient there are a lot of research and treatments available to my doctors. I have the most common form of breast cancer and from day one my doctors told me that this is curable and that I will live. As a patient living with a rare cancer, I imagine it would be incredibly stressful not to have those answers as I did. Not to have a known cure. Not to know if this trial will work or if that medicine will be what it takes. I think everyone deserves a fighting chance to be a cancer survivor. I truly believe that we cancer survivors and patients have to stick together, support each other, hold each other up when we want to fall, and celebrate success when we are victorious. We are all part of an exclusive club that nobody ever wants to be in. Gabe and her story embody this. She didn’t quit; she supported her teammates, and in return is incredibly loved and supported by them. Gabe and her resilience is one of the big reasons I chose to not let cancer have me, even though I have cancer.
What does being #BraveLikeSarah mean to you?
Boy, this is a tough one and really took some time for me to think about. The thing is, I don’t feel brave. While others tell me they think I am brave, I feel like I am just doing what I need to do to survive. I believe that anyone who is faced with a cancer diagnosis would do the same. While cancer was not a choice I had, what I did with my diagnosis was a choice and I believe that it was a brave one. Sharing my story was a choice, showing the ugly sides of cancer and being vulnerable was a choice, working full time and going out to races and supporting my friends was a choice, continuing to fundraise for St. Jude was a choice. Continuing to live my life despite uncomfortable and scary circumstances is brave, and if I had to sum up what it means to be Brave Like Sarah, this would be it.
What are you most looking forward to in the near future?
I have so much to look forward to. On the running front, I am very honored to be able to be running the 2018 Boston Marathon for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I have been working with St. Jude for three years now. Throughout my treatment, I continued to raise money for them and so far have raised over $22,000. St. Jude does not bill for treatment, housing, food or travel because they believe that all a family should have to worry about is caring for their child. As a cancer patient, I can appreciate the amount of stress it takes off a family and I want to support that.
I am also really looking forward to running the half marathon at the Silo District Marathon weekend in Waco, Texas to help support research for rare cancers. As I mentioned earlier, I think it is really important to support all cancer research. In April, I will be attending the Community Oncology Alliance Conference in Washington, DC where I will be following the Advocacy Track. I never dreamed that being a spokesperson for cancer would be where my life took me but here I am and I’m ready to jump in, keep sharing my story, provide hope, and advocate for those who can’t.