Roisin Holden
I’m 29 and was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer August 2021. I’m not done. This is not my way out. I have a whole purpose and lifetime ahead of me. I’m not going anywhere. I will have to fight for myself, that I’m sure of but I’m also sure that this journey will end with me being cancer free and off medication not dead. This is something I’ve felt from the beginning, something I’ve always been confident in and in part why I have remained so calm throughout.
I’m not reacting to it the way they expect me to but I am reacting to it the way that is right for me. All things considering, I’m doing really great, I think my cancer is/was a healing crisis, the big push I needed to transform my life and who I was being. I’m learning to look after myself first, letting others support me and learning to love myself.
Why share my story now?
Quite simply I don’t want a label for life. I don’t want cancer to define me. My healing journey is still important, I am grateful for all I have learnt and all that has changed but it’s time for the next horizon, the next challenge. Healing isn’t linear and there will always be more healing for me to do but for now I can confidently say that I have come through the worst of this cancer challenge.
It’s time for me to share my voice, to celebrate how far I have come and open the door to supporting others on their own healing journeys.
I don’t just mean to ensure the cancer doesn’t grow or return
I have a future and it’s time I make myself available to life
I’ve been given my life back, now is the time to live
