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Lessons for Us All

Surviving Breast Cancer
44 minutes ago
3 min read

By Jill Siegal Chalsty

Bay of Islands, New Zealand – learning about and becoming inspired by the resilience of the Maori people

I’m the founder of Overcoming Obstacles, a nonprofit organization that provides the world’s educators with free life skills curricula to teach in their classrooms. I had devoted decades to helping ensure young people learn the communication, decision making, and goal setting skills they need to lead healthy and prosperous lives. But my journey with cancer taught me that I hadn’t been practicing those same skills myself.

On October 5, 2022, I left my home for twenty-four hours that would change my life forever. I had been followed for years as someone at high risk of breast cancer and then my incredible surgeon and her team at Moffitt Cancer Center stepped in when cancer was found. Leaving home for a double mastectomy would have been difficult for anyone, but I had become the full-time caregiver for my husband, John. He had been my source of strength for decades but was now entering the final stages of mixed dementia. I headed to Moffitt alone.

During my time in recovery post-surgery, I didn’t have the television on. Nor did I have visitors. I lay in my bed, reliving moments of my past. I thought about a trip John and I had taken to a small island off Fiji, one of the most beautiful places we had ever visited. The sun bounced off the turquoise water. Ripe coconuts fell from the trees. That had become my happy place. Other memories surfaced too, reminding me that I was raised to be a warrior.

Delivering a "packet of hope" in Mauritius

My parents were fighters. My father had served with the Marines during the Korean War and taught my brother, sister, and me things that helped him make it through the most difficult times, including crossing the Han River during the Inchon Invasion and making it back to shore alive.

Dad had favorite quotes that became huge in our lives. One from George W. Cecil that we were instructed to memorize was on the wall of his home office: “On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who at the dawn of victory, sat down to rest, and resting died.” The quote became a way of life for me. “Never hesitate! Jump on things right away!” I did that through childhood, into adulthood, in preparing for surgery, and in caring for myself and my husband as I recovered.

But growing up, no one talked to us about “balance.” We all need to have balance in our lives, otherwise we’ll be stressed and burn out. And the link from stress to cancer is well documented in studies. What’s more, no one spoke to us about getting a good night’s sleep or the diet necessary to be healthy. Not even well-intentioned and caring parents were able to teach the skills I needed to stay healthy. A warrior spirit and sayings got me through the twenty-four hours away from John but weren’t going to be enough to win my battle against cancer.

Fifteen months after the double mastectomy, I was diagnosed with two primary lung cancers in my left lung. I had the upper half of my left lung removed for the larger of the two cancers and then lasted only a few rounds of chemo before my kidneys cried, “Enough!” The cancer in the lower left lung is being monitored by CT scans. I’m living my life now in chunks of months. This new timetable has become the calendar for planning my life. With each report of “Stable” I move forward.

During my recovery, I began writing my memoir, Packets of Hope and with that spent hours re-reading the Overcoming Obstacles curriculum. I engaged with the lessons and, best of all, connected with former students to hear how the life skills they learned in school saved their lives.

Now, unlike the person who walked through the doors of Moffitt Cancer Center in 2022, I’m practicing what Overcoming Obstacles educators teach. I’m setting small goals to reach larger ones, making healthy choices, and surrounding myself with positive people. These lessons aren’t just for students. They’re lessons for us all.

About the author: Jill Siegal Chalsty is the author of Packets of Hope: A Journey of Healing and Rediscovery.