A 2nd Act

Any woman cancer survivor can tell you precisely where she was the moment she heard the words that changed her life forever: "You have cancer." A tsunami of doctors and drugs, procedures and scans, hurry up and wait ensue. Then, after months, maybe years, the waters of frenetic activity part. The big day arrives. Treatment is over. But wait! There was safety and structure in that treatment. As survivors, we are suddenly struck by the realization there is no Humpty Dumpty moment when all the pieces of our lives will be put back together, rebuilding the person we once were. Rather, we often find ourselves still dragging the carcass of our illness behind us. Whether we're told we have no evidence of disease, or that we must live with our cancer, what will fill the holes now that the diagnosis and treatment stages have leveled off? How do we push "play"on a once-paused life? What was it all for? For the more than eight million American women survivors of all cancers, the cancer journey will forever be a part of our story. It is a story in two acts. Act 1 was our life before cancer. Now our 2nd Act must begin. An ever-growing body of research supports the idea that "helping is healing." Whether aware of that idea or not, across the country women survivors are taking their lives back by doing amazing things in their 2nd Acts. They're using their newly realized gifts of life and experience to give back to the greater good. a2ndact.org supports and celebrates these women by giving them a platform from which to share their stories: A 2nd Act: Survivorship Takes the Stage. These curated stage performances feature eight to 10 women survivors, local to their performance city, using the centuries old craft of storytelling. They are ordinary women inspiring their audiences to create their own 2nd Acts, regardless of what life challenge might lie before them. Within the pages of this book, you'll find their amazing stories, along with our hope that you, too, will be inspired to overcome whatever obstacle might be blocking your path. We further hope that you'll share what you learn with others who also need to create a 2nd Act. Proceeds from the purchase of this book will allow us to make micro-grants to other women survivors, ready to begin their 2nd Acts. We thank you for your support, as woman by woman, city by city, we change survivors' life focus from "Why Me?" to "What Next?"