22 - Sunday, April 4, 1999 — North Shore News north shore news EALTH eating cancer put life into perspeciiv Sarah Woodend Contributing Writer ROSEMARY Murchison is a sur- vivor. She talks about her experience with breast cancer comfort- ably and confidently. When people refer to her as being in remission she quickly corrects them saving, “Im not in remission, Pm cured.” Her positive attitude sheds fight on the face that people can live normal lives after breast cancer, “Cancer is a life-threaten- ing disease but it’s not always terminal,” she says. Murchison took it as an opportunity to re-evaluate the direction her life had taken. Twelve years ago Murchison was a business woman working at a real estate consulting agency. When she found our she had breast cancer she had just turned 40 and her marriage was falling apart, but she did- n’t. “I remember that day vividly. T went to the doctor with an accumulated fist of problems, but he didn’t let me get past the lump TY had found on my breast.” That was at 5 p.m. on a Thursday evening. At 9 a.m. Friday she was mecting with a surgeon. He performed a biopsy thar day and she had the results the next Tuesday. She had cancer. Two weeks later she checked into Lions Gate Hospital for a mastecto- my. Breast cancer was never something that had worried Murchison on a personal level. She didn’t perform reg- ular breast’ self-examinations and had never worried about her health. Although her sister had survived breast — cancer, Murchison felt it was some- thing that happened to other women, not her. The diagnosis brought everything into perspective and reminded her of what she had to live for. After her surgery she looked around and saw all the things she still had left to do, and she wasn’t about to let breast cancer stop her. “Yo can do all these active things if you ser your mind to it,” she says. Six weeks after her inastec- tomy Murchison went to the YMCA for a swim. She delib- crately didn’t change in a cubicle, and many of the women there told her how great they thought that was. Murchison decided not to have reconstructive surgery and has no regrets. “We can still look wonder- ful — who knows what’s under our tops?” Her rehabilitation atso involved cutting out stress. She had been moving through her fife caught up in someone else’s idea of success, so she quit her job and started taking time for herself. “We all run 100 miles an hour uving te fit in evers thing we think we need to do, but Pve learned Ponty have se much energy and there's no point sweating af P have no control over it,” she says. She is now involved in sell- ing Weekenders — clothing made by Look Good Feel Better, a business that does home presentations aimed at “I don’t care that part of me is gone because the essential me is here and I intend to be here for a long time.” helping women who have had breast cancer feel beautiful again. She has also learned how to say no, specifically to vol- unteer work, to ensure she still has time for herself! “A kinds of things come along, but I have my strengths and I won't take on too much.” The morning the News caught up to her she had missed her tennis game, so she fanned to give herself'a break fater that afternoon and take a trip to the gym. Murehisan’s positive OnEL look has helped her rebuild her lite, bur she didmt do it alone. She is ao firm: believer in support and says, “Its a tot to bear and vou shouldn't try tt on vour own,” During her heakng process the Reach for Recovery pro- gram oorganized by the Canadian Cancer Soctety was Murchison’s lifeline. She says it was essential to rebuilding her self-esteem. To help herself through the first few months atter surgery she would wake up every morning and evaluate the day ahead. “I needed to Jook for something positive every day, like a flower — something to seize on every: day.” Murchison says it took her a full year “before | became me again.” She remembers the day she realized she had fully recov- ered. She was walking down Hornby Street in a suit and people were noticing her, “I thought ‘Hey, [look good? and I was getting = that response again.” She realized she was hold- ing her head high and giving off an air of confidence. She thought, “I’m all right, FE can do this,” and she did. The fear of breast cancer returning will always lurk in the back of Murchison’s See Cancer page 23 B.C. Schizophrenia Society North Shore Branch ; | “SCHIZOAFFECTIVE DISORDER” iP oss SS i Speaker: DR. RON REMICK Consultant Psychiatrist St. Paul's Hospital Wednesday, April 7, at 7:30 pm Lions Gate Hospital Auditorium ENQUIRIES 926-0856 _gse Woura, THE NORTH VANCOUVER RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ““ustice yic® xe SOCIETY Restorative Justice - From Dream to Reality The North Vancouver Restorative Justice Society’ will be holding its First Annual General Meeting on April 8, 1999, 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm at District Hall, 355 West Queens. The keynote speaker will be Mr. Dave Gustafson, codirector of Fraser Regional Communily Justice Initiatives in Langley and instructor at S.F.U. School of Criminology For information please call Jacquie 990-7462 NEWS photo Paul McGrath WHEN Rosemary Murchison was diagnosed with breast cancer her life took a new direction. She has since switched careers and realized what makes her happy. 1340 Pemberton Ave., North Vancouver, B.C. V7P 2R7 987-5255