Wife and mom, Christine Shields Corrigan, knows a thing or two about resilience as she winds her way through a breast cancer diagnosis at age forty-nine. Her adult experience mirrors her teen bout with Hodgkin’s lymphoma as she is forced to confront her deepest fears of illness, death, and loss of control as she struggles to face cancer for the second time.
She offers words of wisdom to those who have recently experienced the news no woman wants to hear following a breast biopsy- breast cancer.
- Do not go on the Internet: This will only fuel the fear, anxiety, and sadness you are already feeling. In addition, most of the information you’ll read is total garbage.
- Withholding information from your family, especially your children, may backfire. Your kids will know something is wrong anyway. So be honest with them because even though you’re the patient, your entire family will experience this disease.
- Don’t be surprised if some of your family and friends respond in unexpected ways. Not everyone handles the news of cancer in sympathetic and supportive ways.
- Gather a team to help you throughout your treatment. You cannot do this alone.
Christine is proof that those diagnosed with breast cancer will find the courage, strength, and resilience to walk it, one step, one day, one week at a time. Remember to be kind to yourself and to the ones who love you.
Her personal journey can be found in her new memoir, Again- Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists. This remarkably authentic account provides a deep sense of insight and understanding for survivors, caregivers, family members, and friends.
Christine Shields Corrigan, a two-time cancer survivor, wife, and mom, gives voice to the beautiful ordinary in her lyrical and practical essays. Her work about family, illness, writing, and resilient survivorship has appeared in a number of outlets.
Christine Shields Corrigan, a graduate of Manhattan College and Fordham University School of Law, Chris teaches creative nonfiction writing for an adult education program, provides writing workshops for cancer support groups, and serves on the programming committee of the Morristown Festival of Books.
