The Curious Survivor
Helping cancer survivors build resilience and move forward after cancer
We didn’t expect life after cancer treatment to be like this.
The Hard Truth About Making a New Start
...What's "getting back to normal," exactly?
So you've finished your cancer treatment, and you're back into "real" life again. But maybe - just maybe - it doesn't feel like YOUR life anymore. You thought this would be a fresh start, but you mostly feel stuck and scared and sad and just... bogged down
Well, if that's day-to-day life for you, it doesn't make you weak.
Yes, you're lucky to be alive, but that doesn't mean there's energy and joy purpose when you wake up in the morning. It doesn't mean you don't have scars on your body and on your soul and on your mind.
If that's your reality, you're not the only one.
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Not by a long shot.
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You're one of the many, many cancer survivors asking questions on forums and to other survivors they meet. These questions usually start the same way.
"Am I the only one who..." (Insert universal cancer survivor question here.)
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We all face these challenges in a unique way, I can't compare my experience to yours, and you can't compare yours to mine.
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This website is a place to ask those questions and hopefully get some answers.
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You'll find courses, share and read cancer survivor stories, and run into some inspirational ideas that will encourage you.
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Hopefully, you'll encounter ideas and tools that will help you build inner strength.
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So you can have a life filled with meaning, purpose and may even a little joy - even if cancer will always be a part of it.
Order the Cancer Survivor's Resilience Mindset | Read the Curious Survivor Blog
Photo: Anastasia Ahuravleva at Pexels.com
Resilience:
brace yourself, get back up, grow.
In the face of the huge challenges we face after treatment, we have two options:
We can give up.
Or, we can keep pushing forward one step at a time, imagining a tomorrow that's filled with meaning and purpose. Dwelling on the good we have, not the good we've lost.
Maybe that sounds like a fist full of social media memes, but it's all true.
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Resilience is three things:
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Taking the hit. You build up your emotional and physical strength so the hard stuff doesn’t knock you over
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Getting back up. Realistically, you’re going to get knocked down at some point, no matter how strong you are. You can build up the skills to recover and move on when that happens
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Growing. You can move beyond just being able to react to the tough stuff when it hits you. You can become a new, stronger, wiser person. It’s called post-traumatic growth - the ability to learn from our tough experiences - and it’s the ultimate prize for the cancer survivor.
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Resilience doesn't have to be a natural part of your personality. You can learn the resilience skills and a mindset that is specific to living a good life now that cancer is in it..
So take a look through the site. Read some blog posts. Check out the Cancer Survivor's Resilience Mindset course, and keep an eye out for Powerful Words: Telling Your Cancer Story, coming soon.
After my third cancer treatment in 2016, I knew I had to do some major self-work to make sense of the experience and keep from growing bitter. I set out to complete a 50k (31 mile) trail run nine months after my last chemo pill, and had an award-winning short film made about it, called Proof of Life.
Brad Thiessen - a curious survivor
I am an author, speaker, three-time cancer survivor and certified resilience coach. I have committed myself to making sense of the many mind-blowing things that have happened to me, including nine brain surgeries and a life-threatening case of hydrocephalus, along with a long list of other surgeries, infections, and complication.
After all this, I refuse to live life by default.
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I have dedicated myself to using my experiences as an author, speaker, cancer survivor and certified resilience coach to helping people find hope and meaning as they face the life-altering experiences of cancer and cancer treatment.
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You can learn more about me in this blog post. Better yet, check out the 20-,minute award-winning film Proof of Life, which chronicles my journey to completing a 50k trail run 10 months after taking my last chemo pill in 2016.
*NOTE ON THERAPY VS COACHING: The contents of the Curious Survivor courses have been reviewed by several licensed mental health therapists and their feedback incorporated into the contents. However, all content on this site and in all courses is for coaching purposes only, to help you use your strengths to move forward. It is not designed or intended to diagnose or treat mental health issues you are experiencing now or in the past. If you have chronic emotional or mental health challenges, you may want to engage the services of a licensed mental health counselor. If a licensed therapist is not available in your area, a list of counselors is available on the therapist directory at psychologytoday.com. Online counseling services are also widely available via the internet.