You Never Walk Alone

 When I worked on the painting for California Oncology's art show in January of 2010, I worked with two other breast cancer patients. Both told me their stories. They were both much farther along in the process. Both had the kinds of stories to tell that made me say, "OMG, you're scaring the heck out of me." One had a recurrence; the other had problems with the reconstruction.
  Both women, though, talked about it all with humor, laughing their way through the stories. Both had incredible attitudes and I'm glad I was partnered with them. Even though they scared the heck out of me, I left feeling good, feeling optimistic and feeling like they taught me a thing or two: One, there's generally someone out there worse off than you and they seem to manage it pretty well, so you better not let yourself get taken in. Two, you've got to look at life, not at the cancer. And third, there's always someone out there walking with you.

    That's why we named our painting. "You Never Walk Alone," a depiction of a cancer victim's flip-flops gathering a crowd as she walks along the beach. Here it is. It hangs in the hallway at Califonia Oncology, along with about 12 others done by cancer patients with the help of local artists.