Famous Survivor: Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John, the British-born and Australian-raised singer and actress, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. Since then, the four-time Grammy winner and actress, has been a tireless advocate for health awareness and efforts to eradicate breast cancer.

Sadly, Newton-John received her diagnosis the same week that her father passed away. After her recovery, she became a product spokesperson for Liv-Kit, a breast self-examination product.

In 2005, she released the record Stonger Than Before which was sold exclusively through Hallmark and whose proceeds from sales benefited breast cancer research. The album featured the song "Phenomenal Woman" based on the poem by Maya Angelou that featured guest vocals from Diahann Carroll, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Delta Goodrem, Amy Holland, Patti LaBelle, and Mindy Smith who were all cancer survivors or whose lives were affected by the disease.

The follow year, Newton-John released a healing CD, Grace and Gratitude. Sales from the album benefited various charities such as the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization.

In 2008, Newton-John raised funds to help build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She led a three-week, 228 km walk along the Great Wall of China that April and was joined by various celebrities and cancer survivors along the trek. The walk (http://www.greatwalkto beijing.com) symbolized the steps cancer patients must take on their road to recovery. Newton-John released a companion CD, A Celebration in Song, the following month in Australia and later worldwide featuring new and previously recorded duets with Barry Gibb, Richard Marx, Cliff Richard, Keith Urban, among others. The walk ultimately raised over $2,000,000.

In October 2008, Newton-John helped launch www.liv.com website and teamed with fitness franchise Curves to distribute one million Liv-Aid breast self-examination aids for Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Now there's a survivor who gives back with her time, money, and talent!

Famous Survivor: Gloria Steinem

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem was treated for breast cancer in 1986. In a 1988 NBC special, Destined to Live: 100 Roads to Recovery, Steinem shared the story of her fight to get the care that she wanted. When her New York surgeon did not want to do the lumpectomy that she requested and that her radiologist recommended, Steinem walked out of his clinic and went to Boston for her surgery. It should surprise no one that this lifelong activist would fight for her own rights as a patient!

Co-founder of New York Magazine and Ms Magazine, Steinem has publicly advocated for the equal rights and reproductive rights of women since the 60s. More recently, she has become critical of modern feminist academic theory claiming that much of it is written in a language that is inaccessible to non-academics.

At the age of 66, Steinem married David Bale, father of actor Christian Bale. After three years of marriage, Bale died of a brain lymphoma at the age of 62. Now in her 70's Steinem continues to write and is a vocal supporter of Democratic political candidates.

Famous Survivor: Herman Cain

Herman Cain, WSB radio host, author, public speaker, and intelligent thinker, is also a colon cancer survivor.

According to Herman Cain's website, www.hermancain.com, Cain grew up in Georgia with wonderful parents and little else. Herman's father worked three jobs - a chauffeur, barber, and janitor - because he wanted his sons to have "a better start in life." As a result of his dad's encouragement, Herman earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree and has succeeded in the highest levels of corporate America.

As former Chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, he turned around the failing company by providing focus and getting people personally engaged in the turnaround. For his efforts, Cain has been hailed by The Wall Street Journal and Business Week as a visionary leader.

Cain continued the responsibilities of President and Chairman of Godfather's Pizza while beginning a second career delivering national keynote speeches. Using his messages as the foundation, he created his own leadership consulting company, THE New Voice,Inc., which also offers books, DVDs, CDs of gospel music, and promotes his keynote speeches. He has authored several books on topics ranging from leadership to self-empowerment to politics including "Leadership is Common Sense", "CEO of Self", and "They Think You're Stupid".

In 1996, Cain served as CEO and President of the National Restaurant Association and has served on the Boards of Directors of AGCO Corporation, Aquila, Incorporated, Reader's Digest Association, Incorporated, Hallmark Cards, Incorporated, and Whirlpool Corporation. Additionally, he is a former Chairman and Member of The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

In 2003, Cain announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for United States Senate from GA. In 2006, Herman was diagnosed with colon cancer and was successfully treated with chemotherapy.

As of 2009, Cain continues to spread his messages of personal responsibility, limited government, and reaching the American Dream through his THE New Voice company, his WSB AM 750 radio show, as a FOX News business commentator, and through his new Intelligent Thinkers Movement.

Famous Survivor: Melissa Etheridge

In 1982 Melissa Etheridge moved from Leavenworth, Kansas to Los Angeles to begin her musical career. After a few years of playing small clubs, Etheridge was hired by A&M Records as a staff songwriter. In 1985 she sent her demo to Olivia Records, a lesbian record label, but was ultimately rejected. She saved the rejection letter, which was signed by "the women of Olivia" and was later featured in "Intimate Portrait", the Lifetime Television documentary on her life.

Etheridge has since released ten albums, several of which have gone multi-platinum, platinum, and gold.

In October 2004 at the age of 43, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy. She later went public with her fight against breast cancer by performing bald at the 2005 Grammy Awards. Her gutsy Grammy appearance paved the way for people to talk more openly about the disease.

Her fight against breast cancer also inspired the creation of the Pink Bracelet Fund http://www.pbfund.org/ which has raised over $200,000 for breast cancer research to date.

On November 15, 2005, Etheridge appeared on the Jay Leno show to perform her song, "I Run For Life" which references her own fight with breast cancer and her determination to overcome it, as well as encourages other survivors and their families. After the performance, Leno told her "Thanks for being a fighter, kiddo."

Famous Survivor: Robert De Niro

Born August 17, 1943 to artist parents, Robert De Niro is considered one of the finest actors of his time. At 17, after leaving a movie theater with a friend, he announced that he was going to be a film actor. No one believed him until he dropped out of high school his senior year and joined Stella Adler's acting school.

In 2003 at the age of 60, the two-time Academy Award winner (Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather, Part II and Best Actor for Raging Bull) De Niro was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The prognosis was good, according to his publicist, Stan Rosenfeld. "Doctors say the condition was detected at an early stage because of regular checkups. Because of the early detection and his excellent physical condition, doctors project a full recovery." De Niro's father, painter Robert De Niro, Sr. died of cancer in 1993 at the age of 71.

Considered fully recovered, De Niro is involved in his film production company, TriBeca Productions and the popular TriBeca Film Festival which he co-founded. He also co-owns several restaurancts located in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and his hometown of New York City. Additionally, he has continued to consistently act following his cancer remission.

Famous Survivor: Louise Hay

Louise L. Hay is one of the founders of the personal improvement movement and her book, "You Can Heal Your Life" has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide since first being published in 1984.

Hay's life did not start out so successfully. In her DVD, "You Can Heal Your Life: The Movie," Hay states that she was born in Los Angeles to a poor mother who married Louise's violent stepfather. When she was about five, she was raped by a neighbor. At 15 Hay dropped out of school without a diploma, became pregnant and, on her 16th birthday, gave up her newborn baby girl for adoption.

She moved to New York in 1950, changed her name, and began a successful fashion modeling career. She met and married English businessman Andrew Hay, but after 14 years of marriage was devastated when he left her for another woman.

Soon after the divorce, Hay stumbled upon the Church of Religious Science and began learning about the power of positive thoughts and affirmations. Following ministerial studies, Hay began traveling throughout the United States, lecturing and facilitating workshops on loving ourselves and healing our lives.

In the late seventies, Hay was able to put her philosophies into practice when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She considered the alternatives to surgery and drugs and instead developed an intensive program of affirmations, visualization, nutritional cleansing, and psychotherapy. Within six months, she was completely healed of cancer.

As of 2009, Hay is running her successful publishing company, Hay House, which includes such authors as Wayne Dyer, Joan Borysenko, Doreen Virtue, Abraham-Hicks, and Hay's own works. Additionally, she established two non-profit organizations: Hay Foundation and Louise L. Hay Charitable Fund. Both support many diverse organizations, including those dealing with AIDS, battered women, and other challenged individuals in society.

When she's not traveling, Louise enjoys painting, gardening, and dancing at her home in San Diego, California.

I would say that Hay has shown again and again that it's possible to thrive after adversity.

Famous Survivor: Lance Armstrong

The day after I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I stopped off at my local bookstore on my way out of town for the holidays. I was scared out of my mind and wanted to re-read Lance Armstrong's book "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life."

As a bicyclist, I had read his book when it first came out and was inspired by Armstrong's incredible story of triumph over cancer. But this time I needed to read it to find courage and hope for my own fight that I was about to undertake.

In 1996, Lance Armstrong was the #1 ranked cyclist in the world, had competed in the Atlanta Summer Olympic Games as a member of the U.S. Cycling team, and had just signed a contract to race with the French-based Cofidis racing team.

Then in October, 1996, tests revealed that Armstrong had advanced testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs, abdomen, and brain.

After surgery, he and his physician decided to try an experimental cancer treatment. Armstrong was looking for an alternative to the prescribed testicular cancer chemo cocktail due to the potential lung damage that sometimes occured with the standard treatment. It was a tough several weeks, but he was eventually successful and emerged cancer-free.

Lance has been quoted as saying, "Cancer if the best thing that ever happened to me." The Lance Armstrong Foundation was formed within months of his diagnosis to help others with their cancer struggles.

In 1999, Lance came back to the competitive cycling world with a vengeance winning the first of a record-breaking seven consecutive Tour de France races.

In the December 3, 2001 Forbes magazine, Armstrong explains, "Without cancer, I never would have won a single Tour de France. Cancer taught me a plan for more purposeful living, and that in turn taught me how to train and to win more purposefully. It taught me that pain has a reason, and that sometimes the experience of losing things - whether health or a car or an old sense of self - has its own value in the scheme of life. Pain and loss are great enhancers."

In 2004, the Lance Armstrong Foundation partnered with Nike to create the LIVESTRONG yellow wristbands, thus creating a movement about hope, empowerment, and control over your life and your health. In addition to providing tools for people battling cancer, the www.livestrong.com web site has expanded to include fitness, nutrition, and life-balance tips for anyone looking to better their lives.

For more information about Lance Armstrong and his foundation, go to www.lancearmstrong.com.

Suellen Germani is a Life Coach and Professional Organzer. For more information about her coaching services, please go to www.creativeorder.com.

Survivor Success Story: Suellen Germani

Survive and Thrive is a blog celebrating people who are thriving following a cancer diagnosis and treatment. I thought it only fitting that the first Survivor Success Story be my own.

In 2003 at the age of 38, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had never even had a mammogram before hearing this news.

A month or so before the diagnosis, I felt a slight pain in my left breast. Thinking I had pulled a muscle lifting weights at the gym, I pushed into the breast to determine which muscle was causing the mild radiating discomfort.

"What the hell is that marble doing in my boob?" I thought to myself. The next day, I began trying to get an appointment with my primary care physician. After I was finally able to see him, he immediately sent me for my first-ever mammogram.

Following the mammogram, the radiologist brought me into the room to look at the films. She said the lump was probably a benign fibroedenoma. A day or so later, the surgeon said the same thing but suggested we do a needle biopsy. I had already started surfing the internet for information about breast lumps and asked if we could just pop out the entire lump instead. She agreed to do so.

A couple of days after my lumpectomy on December 23rd, my surgeon called to say, "We found a little cancer."

"A little cancer? What does that mean?" I asked. "Is that like being a little pregnant?"

She calmly replied, "We need to schedule another surgery to check the lymph nodes and get cleaner margins." Merry Christmas to me.

I absolutely could not get my brain around the fact that this was happening. And not in a "Why me, God?" pity party kind of way. You see, I was really angry that my perfectly planned life was now being radically disrupted by a disease that was not anywhere on my To-Do list. I now have a real appreciation for the quote: If you want to see God laugh, tell him your plans.

So after raging and crying for a night and telling my friends and family, I began to settle into the idea that I had cancer. While on a bike ride with my husband Greg soon after Christmas, I decided that I would somehow use this experience to help others someday. At that moment, I consciously chose to view the cancer dance as a bizarre adventure and document the experience along the way.

Greg took photos of me getting my first chemo treatment (the other patients asked the nurse if I was someone famous). My mom and dad came over to videotape my hairdresser sister-in-law when she shaved my hair into a mohawk before giving me a shiny head.

I wrote in my journal almost everyday. I walked in the Susan G. Komen breast cancer walk when my friends and family sponsored a team in my honor. I helped my dear friend Paige go through treatment for a rare form of adrenal cancer. I joined a wonderful cancer support group with her. I miss her zany sense of humor now that she's gone.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that my mother-in-law was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor while I was going through chemo. Because she lives a couple of hours away and needed daily radiation treatments at a hospital near our house, she moved in with us for a couple of months. Into our little 1,200 square foot house. Yeah. It's a good thing we get along well. Truthfully, we really bonded through the experience. She recently got completely choked up trying to give a toast when we celebrated the fifth year since my cancer diagnosis.

After treatment, I decided to step away from cancer for awhile. So I packed up the photos, the journal, and the wigs. And I begin thinking about how I wanted to spend the rest of my long life. I knew that I wanted to keep my foot in the corporate world in order to maintain access to affordable health insurance. But I also wanted to do something more meaningful than healthcare management, the job I've had for over 15 years.

Then I remembered a fantasy that I had tucked away. Years ago, I read about woman who had started her own company as a professional organizer. I thought that would be the PERFECT job for me to do after retirement. I confessed this fantasy to a friend who said, "Look, I know successful business owners who aren't nearly as smart or as focused as you are. Start your own company. You don't have to quit your corporate job either. Who says you can't do both?"

So that's exactly what I did. In 2005, I started my professional organizing firm, Creative Order, and began helping people get their lives in order. It's been one of the most life-enriching and fun things I've ever done.

And in 2008, I completed the Coach For Life life coaching program in San Diego. Combining organizing and life coaching in my business has allowed me to help people develop organized plans for pursuing their passions and creativity. Plus, I'm getting to coach cancer survivors like me who are ready to grab life by the horns and ride bravely into the future!

My life now is so much more rich, meaningful, and spiritually connected now than it was before cancer. For that I am eternally grateful.