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: 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."

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.