My Experience at Mary’s Place

I wrote a thank you letter to Mary's Place which is below- 

I really enjoyed the experience. Mostly because I got to talk with so many other women and hear how different all our experiences were and I felt relieved that there is no one right way to deal with this illness- most of us, if not all of us, had breast cancer. And we all were given AND made different choices............. from Jefferson in Philadelphia to Sloan Kettering in New York to Virtua in South Jersey - not one of us moved through the process the same way. Some of us did not care who knew- some were very private, some got wigs- some did not- some got sick from their chemo- some did not- some did not know what type of chemo they had- some knew every detail, some had intense arguments with family members- some got closer with family members, some stayed on the job, some did not-  It was all different for all of us.
Which made me feel really good..................actually very very free and happy.  The validation I got was that there is not just one way to do this right and we were all different ages with different life styles and skills. The team at Mary's Place made it clear that we can each pick one change and do that one change until it becomes comfortable and then pick another- which meant I could stop beating myself up for not doing better. And I could acknowledge the changes I have already made. I drink more water than I used to. I reduced my eating of prepackaged food with processed chemicals. I eat more fresh foods. I stopped drinking soda and using artificial sweeteners.  I threw out all my Teflon pots and pans............. I am headed in the best direction!

Dear Mary’s Place Creators and Volunteers

I had the opportunity to spend last weekend, September 9 & 10, 2016 at Mary’s Place and I arrived very uncertain as what to expect although I had read most of what was posted on your website.  The accommodations were welcoming, comfortable and beautifully appointed.  I was pleased to settle in and follow the program outlined for me upon arrival with a big YES in my heart.  Massage, nutritional education, Reiki, counseling, integrative therapies and yoga were all enticing classes on my agenda.

What really surprised me though was the relationship with the other women at Mary’s Place. I had spent most of my Cancer treatment trying to avoid connection and association with other patients going through treatment. I rejected identifying with terms like “survivor” and “journey”.  And yet, I found myself very happy to be talking and exchanging stories with these other women. Where they were from or what they did for a living was irrelevant. Maybe I was receptive because I was no longer scared of falling apart. Or it could be that it was easy to listen now that my own treatment was complete. By the end of the weekend, I had experienced a wonderful benefit. I learned that we all had different experiences and struggled in different ways. And that was a relief to me.  Differences were Okay! With all the choices a patient needs to make as they proceed through treatments and therapies, it is hard to know if the choices made were correct ones. Wondering after a choice is made can often be cruel and can create uncertainty with regret. At Mary’s Place, there was no judgement of right or wrong or should have done this or that. There was only totally acceptance. Even with the hard stuff like yoga, tapping or nutritional changes, there was just loving acceptance of our freedom to learn, grow and choose and to start with where we were at. I felt so safe and valued at Mary’s Place. Which lead me to something else unexpectedly, which was hope that I can and will do more to take care of myself than I had before Cancer developed as a disease in my body.  It really is okay to just be me and keep trying to do my best.  Thank you for that!