“I didn’t expect to learn anything good from cancer, but it's taught me how strong I am.”

It was a spring afternoon in 2002. Doris was just running out to pick up the kids at school when the phone rang. It was her doctor. The lab tests were back, and she had cancer. Doris then underwent surgery and chemotherapy. “The worst thing was that I couldn’t even pick up my 18-month-old son,” she says.

Today, Doris feels healthy. “I didn’t expect to learn anything good from cancer,” she says. “But it’s taught me how strong I am. It also showed me how much my family and friends really mean to me. I fell in love with my husband all over again. And I learned to enjoy life more. My house doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect, and if my child wants to watch TV with me, I do it. I got rid of that cancer but I hung onto all the things it taught me.”