More Than A Survivor, I'm A Fighter - by Dawn Dobson
My name is Dawn, and I am a 4-time cancer survivor.
The Hardest Part: what next?
I think the hardest part of life after treatment ends is "what next?" I can tell you honestly that after each treatment I had, the what next was always a little different.
The first time, the what next was, okay, let me just get on with my life. They told me I had a 95% survival rate. I'm okay, I'm fine, I'm moving on. I know now that a lot of that was just smoke.
When it came back again after treatment, my what next was blame. Blame on me. What did you do to make it come back again? How do you fix this so it doesn't happen again? What do you need to do? It took me down a whole other path and it brought up things from my past.
What Was Missing
What was missing for me during that time after treatment was follow-up, really. It's almost as if the doctors tell you what you have, what they're going to do, they do it, and then it's over. You go back every 3 months or 6 months depending on the latest scan, but there's no in-between.
There's no one telling you about the ailments that happen because of the treatment. No one's telling you what to do for them, and you kind of think, well, again, what now?
Finding Community
I joined The After Cancer through the Carolina Breast Friends, and I found them when I moved from New York down to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2022, through the Pink House. I found the Pink House because I was looking for a wig to cover my bald head, and they were very gracious. They were very understanding. They were normal.
I wasn't any different from anyone else. My cancer diagnosis did not make me almost like a superhuman or just tainted. It's not contagious, and if it's not contagious, then you must be this super strong person to have gotten through it, right? They just treated me like Dawn, which was fantastic.
Connecting With Women Who Get It
The After Cancer was fantastic. I have made more connections with women my age who experience a lot of the same things that I experienced, or who have the same questions that I have.
So you don't feel foolish in asking, why is it that I can't sleep a certain way? Is it me or is it something else? What can I do for this?
Meeting them, having the Pink House to go to and the different functions that the Pink House offers, it brings people together.
It's taken some of the what next out of the what next question, because you know what's next, and they address the things that you question but sometimes might be too afraid to ask. So it makes a difference.
Support From The Very Beginning
I definitely think that more survivors should have access to The After Cancer. I honestly believe that the moment you get diagnosed with cancer, these things need to be made available to you, and not in paper form.
I really wish more oncologists would work with people such as The After Cancer or centers like the Pink House, where they say:
"Okay, you've got cancer, this is your treatment, but I need you to make an appointment with these folks right here, or I need you to sign up for this program right here, because this program is going to be with you from the beginning to whenever you decide you no longer want it."
Especially for me, being by myself, not having a significant other, not having a mom or a dad in my corner, or someone who not just went through the process, but was willing to give me the information and knowledge that I needed to make the best decision that I could make. I didn't have that, and that's the one thing that I regret.
I think a lot of the centers and organizations, specifically The After Cancer, can help with not only that, but everything else in between.
I am a Fighter
I think that we become survivors the moment we hear that we have cancer. I don't think it starts when the treatment is over. I really think it starts the moment that diagnosis goes into your mind and your psyche, and it's like, what now? Not so much what next, but what now?
Programs like The After Cancer, the Carolina Breast Friends, and the Pink House are very important for the journey that someone with a cancer diagnosis has to take. I speak as a woman, but I speak for all cancer patients.
My name is Dawn, and I am a cancer fighter, not just a survivor. I am a fighter.
