"Nalu" by Kristine LeTellier

Here's an excerpt from Kristine's story:

"In December 2022, another massive tsunami came, knocking everything down in its path. Here comes cancer and all the feelings you don’t want to have at 40. Feelings of scared, nervousness, the unknown, sadness and trauma barreling at her full speed. Pain is what crashed into her first and she tried to swim. White caps started to appear at every angle and there was no way to swim around them; there were scans, biopsies, chemo that left her with feelings of anger, hopelessness and made her tired and weak. She pushed past using support and wisdom from her fans. Months and months of swimming around the dangerous white caps and next came the bi-lateral mastectomy and exchange surgery. While learning how to stay above the water with one storm at a time, the boat filled with love and support stayed right by her side.

Her husband as the captain and her 15-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son as the co-captains. They were ready to give her the support that she needed but when she could not love herself, it was hard to let anyone close. The wave of ugly and embarrassment crashed over with every “you look great” whisper in the wind. She was fighting not just on the outside where they could physically see, but on the inside where her thoughts were on repeat. 

One day, test results came floating by with positive news that she was free of cancer. She yelled for the lifeboat and she quickly pulled her tired body out of the water. With time to rest, she rode the lifeboat past the rocks and back into the calmness of the ocean. While focusing on her breath, she made her way to the sand where hope, love and support were waiting with open arms."