This is the beginning of a story about Lalanya’s journey through the trials of breast cancer, particularly amid the complexities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a dance instructor, Lalanya has witnessed the profound impact of movement as a coping mechanism for life’s adversities, including the formidable battle against cancer. Little did she know that one day, she would rely on dance to navigate her own challenges.
This is the story of my experience with breast cancer. We all know breast cancer can be totally devastating. My own case was further complicated by COVID, so much so that I’m still in the middle of this story. What I have here is an introduction and a kind of First Act.
I had taught dance for years and my students often came to me with stories of how the movements helped them cope with life’s stresses and problems, particularly, big crises, such as breast cancer.
When they were telling me all this, I never thought I would be the one to use my own dance movements to help me cope with the effects of breast cancer. It does not run in my family line.
In this blog I’m going to tell you how I found out I had breast cancer and the various things that happened during COVID, which made the process much more complicated than would be expected. I’m going to tell you how the normal procedures for diagnosis failed me. This made me feel desperate and made my situation more dangerous than it ever needed to be.
I want to share how I handled all that. I want to share how dancing with my students helped me cope while living with breast cancer. I knew that coping with breast cancer would take tremendous inner strength.
With dance you can step back from the world and its craziness and concentrate on your inner self. You can find the power and the well-being to deal better with these terrible situations.
I went to my own dance class and, dancing with my students, we arrived together at a state of well-being. I could feel whole. I felt restored. My students felt this right along with me. The whole premise of the dance class changed. It became a dance of hope and healing.
Lastly, I want to share some of my experiences using prayer and meditation.
So, welcome to my blog.