Why I Became a Cancer Advocate: Amy

by Amy Mattes, LIVESTRONG Leader Walking out of a friend’s funeral that had lost her battle with leukemia, and watching her three young daughters, husband, family and community grieving, felt very unnecessary. In addition, her twin sister had stage IV lymphoma.  I was forever changed that day. I vowed to use my experience and knowledge and advocate in the fight against cancer.   As a cancer registrar, I have witnessed almost every aspect of cancer. A very insightful aspect of my job has been participating on a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, social workers, and pastoral care staff. We discuss our patient’s needs not only at the medical level, but a psychosocial level as well.  I came to understand the impact of cancer beyond the diagnosis. Specifically, that cancer, a mass that metastasizes to other parts of the body, takes over physically and mentally. In 2007, I started my advocacy work by joining Team LIVESTRONG on RAGBRAI.  (Not having ridden a bike since I was 10) I bought a bike, shoes and gear; clipping in for the first time that Sunday morning I immediately tipped over.  I got back up, and by the second day I was keeping up with the big boys.  A group of strangers became a family committed to riding for cancer. During the week long trip across Iowa, my LIVESTRONG jersey opened the conversation of cancer. I was touched by so many amazing stories from people all over the world.  I soon was volunteering, holding events, speaking in public forums...
Source: LIVESTRONG Blog - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Source Type: blogs