Thrive Through Cancer is pleased to host our first annual expo for young adults with cancer in partnership with Swedish Medical Center!

Chemo-Con!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Swedish Cancer Institute/First Hill – 1221 Madison Street, Seattle

5:30 – 6:15 p.m. | Exhibition tables open, social opportunity

6:15 – 6:30 p.m. | Rose Egge speaks about Thrive Through Cancer

6:30 – 7:15 p.m. | Session 1: Julie Herbst, RD speaks about healthy eating (recipe & sampling provided)

7:15 – 7:30 p.m. | Break, Exhibition tables open

7:30 – 8:15 p.m. | Session 2: Jacci Thompson Dodd, MA, MSSS discusses intimacy and cancer

8:15 – 8:30 p.m. | Q&A opportunity

Come meet Rose Egge, founder of Thrive Through Cancer and join us for two educational and interactive workshops focused on issues commonly experienced by young adults affected by cancer. Learn more about community partners, resources and services available in areas near you.

This is an opportunity for young adults who have been touched by cancer in the Seattle area to come together and network with a proactive and dynamic community!

Please go online to register for this event at www.swedish.org/classes or call 206-386-2502.

If you have any questions about Thrive Through Cancer, contact Rose Egge at thrivingwithcancer@gmail.com.

Ah, the healing powers of sunshine. The joy of smelling springtime flowers. Relaxing with a glass of wine while listening to your favorite tunes. These are all moments to be savored. Remembered. Repeated. To do this, it requires slowing down. Becoming aware of your surroundings. Inhaling and exhaling, slowly, with purpose. Looking out with your eyes and adjusting your viewpoint to become aware of life’s performance. I remember when my viewpoint broadened. I became much more aware of the life hustling and bustling all around me.

I was sitting in a waiting room. The smell of fear and unsurety were everywhere. I was afraid – the unknown was staring me straight in the face. Now the unknown is tailored to each of us differently, my unknown is not the same as your unknown. But that day my unknown dealt with cancer. Breast cancer. I’d already had a bi-lateral mastectomy and was now preparing to listen to my oncologist review my chemotherapy treatment plan. The unknowns of chemotherapy are scary! Side effects. Effectiveness. Sanity – would my mental where-with-all survive!  I had no idea; no research to pull from, no life experience to compare this with, no nothing. My fears were overwhelming. I could feel despair creeping up me like a twisted vine, tears welled in my eyes.

Yet, in the midst of my emotional turmoil the sun was shining. Literally, that October day the sun was shining; fully, brightly, and with kindness.  I only noticed it because south Lake Union looked bright blue. A blue that invites you to jump right- in and enjoy a lazy swim. I remember thinking how cool, how untroubled, how tranquil the lake looked. And right then I desperately wanted, no needed, that serenity. And as I sat, staring out and yearning for that calm, an intense whirring noise penetrated my bliss. With rapt attention, I watched, mesmerized, as a seaplane gracefully landed on Lake Union. I had never seen a sea plane land; truthfully, I had never even thought about it. But on that day, the simple act of a sea plane landing on a placid, crisp, sky blue lake, took my breath away. I felt my lungs expand and a huge deep sigh of relief released from my body. There are joys in life. There are experiences that must be lived.

Life is about enjoying the small things. Enjoying the simple pleasures that bring happiness and hope.  I did face the unknown. I did not know the future.  But I could choose to face the unknown with a patient determination to seek out the small thing in each day that inspire me to persevere. To move along and to hope for the best. So that day, I choose. I choose to look for the small things that remind me how wonderful life is. To hold on to the enjoyment of life.

THANK YOU! One participant will be given a free “Thrive Through Cancer” shirt!

Thrive Through Cancer will continue to create beautiful Hope Totes for patients and will keep serving Swedish Hospital, but we should consider how we can best compliment existing organizations in the Seattle area and determine what needs have not yet been met among young adults fighting cancer.

To create the best strategic plan possible, I need your help. I am hosting a brainstorming session on Sunday, May 19, 11am at my West Seattle home to discuss what Thrive should aim to accomplish in the coming years. I’m hoping to bring together cancer survivors, volunteers, medical experts, people with non-profit experience and ANYONE who wants to contribute to the discussion of what young adults fighting cancer need and how we can best serve them.

This will be an excellent opportunity to get involved with Thrive Through Cancer in the future or simply share your opinion.

If you would like to attend, please email thrivingwithcancer@gmail.com.

Please consider helping us shape the future of Thrive Through Cancer!

With endless gratitude,

Rose Egge, founder

Thrive Through Cancer gives young adults cancer patients – and their caregivers – the chance to share their story on our website. We want all people facing this terrible disease might to remember that they are never alone. Cameron’s wife Heather was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2005 at age 36.

I’ll never forget November 21st, 2005. For my family, it was the day that everything changed, and I almost thought I would lose everything. My wife was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma on that day. It was also when I became a caregiver for someone with cancer. It wasn’t something that I thought I would ever have to go through. After all, we had just celebrated the birth of our new baby. We had spent months in preparation for our daughter Lily to be born, and we had spent even more time thinking of our first Christmas together as a family of three. Now it seemed like the family dream I had in mind wasn’t the one I was going to experience.

I started as a caregiver from the very moment that we heard the diagnosis together. Our doctor spoke about treatment options, and it seemed like neither of us really could handle the situation. He explained each option to us, but we knew that the specialist was the best one who could help my wife. There was one in Boston named Dr. David Sugarbaker. Out of all the choices, I kept going back to him in my mind, and I knew it was the best choice to help my wife. I had to save my family and I didn’t have time to waste on weighing the options.

Life was a complete mess for a while after that. There wasn’t a daily routine anymore that didn’t involve something complicated or a lot of stress. I was still working, and while I was working, I had to take care of my newborn and wife. It was crazy to do all of this alone, and looking back, I wonder how I even managed it for that long. I had major doubts about my family’s survival. What if Heather didn’t make it? What if we had spent everything on treatment that wasn’t going to save her? I couldn’t imagine losing her and being left alone to raise a daughter who would never really know her mother. I couldn’t get these thoughts out of my head, and I would have gone crazy if it hadn’t been for the love and support of our friends and family.

At our darkest moment, friends and family arrived with arms open. I couldn’t believe their generosity. It was there all along. Heather’s family provided so much care and love for us, and even financial help which we desperately needed. They looked after Lily and attended to Heather when she was home after her surgery. Without these amazing people, I don’t know where my family would have been. The greatest lesson I learned as a caregiver is to accept every offer of help. There is no room for pride when a loved one is sick, and as soon as I realized that, a giant weight was lifted from my shoulders.

Heather underwent radical treatment over the following months, and despite the great odds against her, she beat mesothelioma and is cancer free to this day, over seven years later. It is our hope that our story of victory over cancer can be a source of inspiration to all those currently battling disease today.

Rose Egge and fiance Angel Ibarra, October 2012. Courtesy Lynette Huffman Johnson.

Milestones have a way of sneaking up on me. I know they’re coming, yet I’m still surprised when they arrive.

Today I realized that Saturday, Dec. 29 is my 1 year anniversary of being cancer-free. It has been a year since my Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma was declared “in remission.”

I can barely believe it. While those 6 months of chemotherapy continue to weigh heavily on me, this past year has flown by.

But this milestone has driven me to think back to one year ago. It reminds me of the person I was back then – the one with poison in her veins and a catheter in her chest. I think of the girl who was pushing herself at dance class one week and barely able to get off the couch the next. I remember praying the Zofran would kick in before the nausea did.  I remember my bald head, my swollen face and my four eye lashes. I remember putting on my wig and getting all dolled up on New Year’s Eve but being too tired to stay out till midnight.

If I could track down a DeLorean and travel back in time to see that girl, there are so many things I would tell her. I would give her this letter.

To my former self –

You have no idea what’s in store for you! You are going to feel so much better, and stronger and smarter and more beautiful than you do in this moment.

I know, you don’t believe me. Right now you’re wondering how much damage this cancer has done to your body and you don’t know if you will ever be the same. You don’t even know if remission will last.

Well, you won’t be the same; you’re going to be so much better! You’re going to go back to dance class and take classes with dancers 10 years younger than you. You’re going to start running and complete a half-marathon, under your goal time! And you will return to hot yoga, bald head and all.

Your hair will grow back in crazy curls and you will get more compliments on it than you ever got before! And you get back to your pre-cancer weight. You embrace your fair skin and your eyebrows grow in so they look better than ever. Before you know it, that hickman scar doesn’t even bother you all that much.

You’re going to get a new kitten and name her Little Foot. She will drive you nuts with her bad habits but she will be the sweetest creature you’ve ever seen. She will wake you up by pawing your face and fall asleep nestled in your lap.

You will go to Maui and run on the beach and jump in the waves. You’ll drive to the upcountry to a lavender farm that, I promise, is one of the most beautiful places you’ve ever been.

Before you know it, it won’t hurt to get out of bed anymore. In a year, you’ll barely have any back pain at all. In fact, you’ll be doing hand stands and summersaults at dance – although you probably shouldn’t.

You’ll go back to work and find a new passion – health reporting. You’re memory will return and you’ll discover how lucky you are to have a job you truly love with people you really admire.

You will lose a dear friend, but before she goes, Austen Everett will introduce you to some new ones and leave you with gifts that will last a lifetime.

And one night, when you least expect it, Angel will change your life forever when he asks you to marry him. You have never known happiness like you will feel in that moment. Nothing else has ever compared.  And just wait till you see the ring!

You’re going to help people too. You will connect to people in a way you wouldn’t let yourself before. And you will learn to forgive.

You’re going to go hiking; carve a pumpkin; watch your friends get married; meet a new baby; play shuffleboard; go to California and Vancouver; touch a human brain; shop at the farmer’s market; feed an elephant; try on your mom’s wedding dress; eat an avocado as big as your head; watch the greatest concert of your life; and go to bed every night, and wake up every morning, next to the love of your life.

Don’t believe me? Just wait and see!

I don’t know how many more years I’m going to have in remission. It could be 70, or it could be none at all. But I know I never imagined my life would be as incredible as it is today. No matter what challenges life brings, I know I will get through it, and the other side will be more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

Rose Egge, Thrive Through Cancer founder

Noah and Becky at AVEDA in Pacific Place.

When I started Thrive nearly one year ago I didn’t know exactly what it would become. But the one thing I did know was that I wanted to “pass it on.”

By “it” I mean all the love and support I received when I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma at age 25. I was shown tremendous compassion and I wanted to offer the same to others who are scared, lonely, or angry over their own diagnosis. By helping others I was also able to let go of some of the trauma I suffered through my illness. Serving others has helped me find peace.

Thrive has received wonderfully positive feedback on our Hope Totes, but the greatest affirmation we’ve gotten came from Hope Tote recipients who offered to make totes for others.

They, too, wanted to “pass it on.”

Becky Sundling Haruyama, a breast cancer survivor, is an amazing example of this. Even while she is receiving chemo herself, Becky wanted to help make Hope Totes even better. She thought about what she loved during treatment and decided to approach AVEDA for donations.

There, she met the incredible Noah Luce. Noah has a huge heart and sadly lost his father to cancer. He inspired managers at the AVEDA stores in Pacific Place, Alderwood Mall and the University District to start collecting items for Hope Totes. In just a couple weeks, the stores have collected 180 of their exceptional products valued at more than $1200!

Becky and Noah have both suffered terrible tragedies in their lives, but they are bringing love into the world by giving others a little joy during an incredibly difficult time.

Please join me in supporting their efforts and pop into an Aveda store near you! Donate an item if you can, but otherwise just let them know how amazing you think they are!

And let’s all “pass it on.”

Display at AVEDA Pacific Place

Volunteers put together gift bags called “Hope Totes” for cancer patients.

At Thrive Through Cancer we are looking for businesses and families to “adopt a cancer patient” for the holidays!

It’s this simple: We give you a list of items requested by patients, and you purchase what you can! Every little bit helps! Don’t feel like shopping? You can purchase items from one of our online registries or simply give cash!

This project is super easy and rewarding! We will deliver “wish lists” by November 1 and pick up items on December 14 – or whenever is most convenient for you!

As always, donations to Thrive are tax deductible under the Swedish Medical Center Foundation 501c3.

To join in the giving, or for more information, email thrivingwithcancer@gmail.com. 

Last week, Thrive supporter Chelsea Teigen had her last round of chemotherapy after more than a year of intense treatment for ewings sarcoma. Chelsea has been recovering from surgery, spending her days wrestling a 2-year-old and has a husband facing his own health challenges. Still, she has found the time to collect donations for Thrive and makes the amazing bracelets we include in each Hope Tote.

As Chelsea begins her journey into wellness, we put a call out to Thrive supporters asking for gifts that might help her and her young family. The response was amazing. With movies, gift cards, homemade cookies and jams and more we were able to bring a little joy to Chelsea’s hospital room. Thrive Through Cancer also lead a team in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk this year, raising $3652 to fight blood cancer, in memory of young adults Austen Everett and Kenny Graves. While we have our own fundraising needs at Thrive, we felt it was important to support such a worthy organization.

That’s the beautiful thing about Thrive. We have grown into a successful program at Swedish, but more importantly we have grown into a loving community of survivors, patients and friends and family who are happy to help each other.

Thank you all for supporting the cancer community at large, and let’s continue caring for one another!