How I Found the Strength to Keep Going During Cancer

"In that moment I said to myself, 'I will never feel sorry for myself again.'"

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Why is this happening to me? It’s a rare person who doesn’t ask that question after being diagnosed with cancer.

Makeup artist and entrepreneur Ramy Gafni woke up one morning during his chemotherapy treatments and decided to walk the 10 blocks crosstown in New York City to his warehouse. “That’s what I do,” he said, “and I wasn’t going to not walk just because I was in the middle of chemo.” He got tired quickly and began to feel bad for himself, when he got a reminder of how lucky, in some ways, he was. Seeing a physically disabled person walk towards him on the street and smile brightly, something clicked for Ramy he realized he had a reason to be happy.

Dr. Zuri Murrell of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center has seen firsthand just how powerful gratitude can be when it comes to fighting cancer and finding the motivation to continue. “The patients who do well with cancer, they live life with that kind of gratitude, but in terms of everything,” he says. And while it’s certainly easier said than done, finding things to appreciate, like the knowledge that life is finite and saying “I love you” to your family as much as possible, is a powerful tool.

Survivor Heather Maloney agrees, saying that moments of gratitude and finding a way to be happy in every moment will push you towards recovery; Ramy Gafni found that promising himself that he wouldn’t self-pity got him through his darkest days of treatment.

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