Veronica F.

When Veronica was diagnosed with stage I breast cancer, she experienced heartbreak, confusion and anxiety. “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know who to call and I just found myself going down this dark tunnel.”

Calling CancerCare gave her a sense of relief because she knew she wasn’t alone. “When I called CancerCare, I had the most amazing young lady on the other end and I was just taken aback that someone took the time and the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, let me hold your hand. I got you.’ That meant everything to me.”

Veronica got involved in a spirituality support group at CancerCare. “The spirituality group made me feel like I had a foundation behind me that I didn’t have before and it made me feel like I had hope,” she shared. “It actually allowed me to take my pain and turn it into my own passion.”

CancerCare continued to be there for Veronica throughout her cancer experience. “CancerCare has helped me build my foundation from start to finish, to show me who I can be before and after cancer,” she said. “They gave me an outlet of encouragement.”

A challenge that some people who are diagnosed with cancer face is feeling defined by their diagnosis. Veronica learned that she is so much more than her diagnosis. “The biggest thing that CancerCare has taught me is that cancer doesn’t define me. I am not cancer.”

“Before this, I always felt like I was pointed out as the ‘cancer girl.’ Now I may be the ‘cancer girl,’ but I’m now the breast cancer beauty survivor of it all and I’m going to take it to the top and I’m going to do God’s will, thanks to CancerCare.”