This Party is Gonna off the Hook!

“Little did she know she was going to be such an influence on my experience as well. She had such a great sense of humor through it all, which has taught me how much laughter is needed physically & mentally through such a trying time.”

Coming from her unbiased best friend, April is and always has had the best sense of humor even when going through treatment.

I remember when being there the day before she had to go to one of her chemo treatments and how the expression on her face evidenced she was glum of course but she said, “They give me free juice though.”

After that, we quoted Arrested Development where Buster goes “Buckets of juice? This party is going to be off the hook!”  I still think of that every time I see that episode (because who doesn’t re-watch Arrested Development over and over?)

Creative Coping Through Cancer

Besides humor and kind people, April says that she used some creative coping through writing.

“I didn’t write necessarily for any audience other than myself but I think it kept me mentally sane. With all I was dealing with outside my cancer battle (husband, kids) I had to put it all somewhere and make sense of it and reconcile it as my current reality.”

“I have bipolar disorder, depression & anxiety, and PTSD. Writing my thoughts and feelings (physically by hand – that’s important for me) was so healing on so many levels. It removed the pain from my mind and put it to paper. It was all pain that was written, either. I wrote so many things that were uplifting.”

From One Survivor to a Future Survivor

April had some of those positive words for anyone who may be going through cancer treatments right now and or feel discouraged.

She says:

“Keep going. Stay positive. Find an outlet to keep your mind busy and learn to accept help from others around you.”

“I had tremendous support from family and friends during this time. There were so many people from my church that organized to come and play with my kids on days that I just couldn’t because I was so sick. Meals were brought, cards and love and prayers were sent and felt and it all sustained me through a really challenging time.”

“It wasn’t easy watching someone else play with my kids day after day while I was so sick, but once I let go of that aspect of control, things became easier and I was able to appreciate the love that others and God had for me. Let others serve you and help.”

Visiting the Past to Help the Future

There are so many people, especially this time of year with it being breast cancer awareness month, that want to do something to help the cause.  I asked April what people in this situation can do.

April’s answer was, “Give time. I volunteer at the chemo infusion center where I received my treatments. Just talking to patients, making sure they are comfortable while receiving their treatment.”

I think everyone has at least one person in their life or knows someone who has been affected by breast cancer.  There are so many beautiful stories of cope to share including April’s who was positive through some times that I think I would have gone nuts.

To say April is full of love and positivity is an understatement.  I always ask artists if they have anything else they want to add in or say.  April simply said, “Just that I love you.”

So, to April:

Thank you for being someone to look up to and for being real with me.  Thank you for sharing your hard times with me and your positivity through them.  You are so loved by everyone who knows you and I think everyone who reads this article is going to be inspired by your words.