By Nadine Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: April 4, 2012
As part of the Canadian Cancer Society’s “daffodil campaign,” on March 29 at the bookstore, UFV academic advisor Michelle Rickaby read from her short story “My Symbol of Hope.” The purpose of the daffodil campaign, which is running through April, is to further the cause in the fight against cancer (proceeds going to research and cancer prevention initiatives) and, as the Canadian Cancer Society’s website states, “let those living with the disease know that they are not alone.” On April 27, there will be coordinated events across Canada.
Published in Canadian Living in 2009, Rickaby’s story is about her personal experience fighting and beating Hodgkin’s disease. It is also a story about why, for her, the daffodil is a symbol of hope. The story begins when she was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, also known as Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Rickaby, who was in her twenties at the time, had already lost her brother to cancer, so she did not consider her prognosis to be good.
Hodgkin’s disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, has a five-year survival rate of about 86 per cent. Rickaby describes the ordeal of 40 chemotherapy treatments, including a graphic account of the burning in the inside of her throat and her underarms. During that period she lost a significant amount of weight, she lost her hair, and her strength. In addition to the chemo treatments, Rickaby employed visualization techniques she learned from a book titled Getting Well Again by Dr. O. Carl Simonton.
Although the cancer eventually went into remission, and Rickaby believed that though she had recovered physically, she was still psychologically unwell. For years, she struggled to “get past being a cancer survivor,” unable to move on with her life. Rickaby lived with the constant fear of a recurrence; every ailment “terrified” her. As well, she couldn’t come to terms with why she had survived while so many others, including her brother, had not.
Four years after her recovery, Rickaby was out walking when she saw a single daffodil. In that instant, this vision of a simple flower gave Rickaby hope. She states that, for some reason, the flower was to her a “signal to change.” And she did. She went through a divorce, remarried, and returned to school. She says now she lives her life to the fullest. She has gone whale watching off the coast of BC, ridden an elephant in India, and recently she has travelled with her husband to Cambodia.
Rickaby decided to tell her full story in a novel she published with two of her friends, also cancer survivors. The book, titled Choosing to Smile, follows the three women in their fight with cancer. Its purpose is to communicate a message of hope for those who are in times of trial, and in 2011 the trio received the Woman of Courage Award. Undoubtedly, Michelle Rickaby’s story is an inspiration to anyone whose lives have been touched by cancer.
More information can be obtained at www.choosingtosmile.com
