KatFieler

My Experience with Cancer

Cancer stalks my mother’s family, especially breast cancer but also pancreatic, skin, and colon cancer. I don’t have the BRCA I or II gene, but there is clearly something there — maybe it’s a gene they haven’t mapped yet. But I’m not afraid. I have had repeated surgeries, lumpectomies, and ultimately cancer, and having cancer may actually have saved my life. Until then, my doctors weren’t really watching me very closely. Now I’m under a microscope. Now the chances are very good that they’ll catch stuff early.

Hobbies

I don’t even know why we own a television. On any given day, my husband (of 25 plus years) and I can be found anywhere but on the sofa. We love to travel,hike, bike, go canoeing and kayaking, we love the beach, the mountains . . . We love to dance and entertain. We just love life. Our daily mantra is “make someone smile today and make a memory.”

Books

More than I can list, but some of the favorites that come to mind are: LAST CHANCE TO SEE (Douglas Adams), THE PROPHET (Kahlil Gibran), THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED (M. Scott Peck) . . . maybe I’ll think of more later.

Music

Everything but big band. Some favorite artist include (in no particular order): Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, Five for Fighting, Josh Abbot Band, Green Day, James Taylor, Tim McGraw, Incubus, Natasha Bedingfield, Faith Hill, Jo Dee Messina, Sheryl Crow, Lee Ann Womack, Coldplay, The Fray, The Police, Matchbox Twenty, Heather Small, John Mayer . . .

Movies

Too many to list.

My Kind of People

Lovers of life.

Reason for Being Here

To support and be supported; to help and become more educated; to be involved wherever I can.

Words of Wisdom

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
– Doug Adams –

Religion

Christian

Know Me

Someone recently asked me if I could go back in time and NOT have had cancer, would I? The answer is “no” because then I wouldn’t have met the amazing people who are a part of my world today: the small heros who live quiet lives of bravery. And honestly, cancer taught me a lot about myself: what I’m made of, how precious time really is, and that it’s ok to lean on others because then they have someone to lean on too.

I’m a survivor, in every sense of the word. I fought and beat breast cancer, and I continue to fight for other women through my involvement in recovery training and fund-raising events. During my own treatment, my oncologist asked if I had considered using my knowledge as a personal trainer to specialize in breast cancer recovery. I hadn’t, but I was instantly inspired to make it a reality.