Life

Women praise women who help and heal

2013 Women Helping Women Committee member Kristy Capps pins a corsage on Marcia Caserio, the 41st Woman of Hope honored by the event.

By Bill Moss, Published: October 25, 2013

Gymnast conquers balance beam, ovarian cancer

The keynote speaker, Shannon Miller, is the most-decorated American gymnast in history, wining the balance beam gold and the team gold medal as part of the USA's "Magnificent Seven" in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Shannon Miller conquered the Olympic balance beam and ovarian cancer.After the team won the gold, Miller still competed in individual events.
"I went out to the vault, landed flat on my bottom in front of the world — not exactly how I envisioned by Olympic experience. I was pretty crushed. I never miss this vault," she said.
She called her mother, who calmed her down.
"She said, 'Shannon, you've got to breathe. At this point you've been through the blood, sweat and tears. This is your moment. All you've got to do is enjoy it.' ... I realized that my mother was right. I needed to enjoy it. I needed to be thankful."
During her routine the next day, she took her mother's words to heart, shed the anxiety and relied on her training and experience.
On her balance beam dismount, "I felt my feet hit the floor and I realized I was standing up," she said. "I didn't know what the score was. If there was a medal I didn't care what color it would be. I just wanted to live in that moment. And I'll never forget standing up there on the podium, gold medal around my neck, the American flag being raised and hearing the sound of my national anthem.
"If I'm ever in doubt about setting long-term and short-term goals, about getting back up after a fall believing in ourselves and what we can achieve if we persevere all I have to do is think of that moment."

Her next defining moment came 14 years later, shortly before Christmas of 2010.
"My life was very full, too full for cancer," she said. "I was fit and active, I had a husband and young son. I just started my business. I was so busy that I almost skipped my exam."
But a nagging voice told her not to. After the exam, her doctor told her he had discovered "a baseball sized cyst on my left ovary."
"Getting a diagnosis of cancer is something that you will never forget," she said. "It could be a warm summer day. It could be an early morning in November. You could be in a small cramped office, lying in a hospital bed, or at the other of the phone. No matter where or how, you will always remember every excruciating detail, the lights, the sounds, the smells, the inevitable rush of panic and fear as the floor seems to fall from beneath your feet. And your life becomes divided into two parts — before and after."
Driving home from the appointment, she was overwhelmed with questions and doubts.
"I just couldn't make any sense of this. It couldn't be cancer, right? That happens to other people, not us," she said.
She was lucky. Her doctors caught the cancer early. The surgery to remove the cyst was a success. It turned out to be "a higher grade malignancy than they originally thought," and the oncologist ordered "an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy."
She had heard how hard treatment could be.
"I'm an athlete. Throw everything at me you can, I can take it," she said.
It was harder than she thought. She tried to do her weekly radio show on a Saturday after five days straight of chemotherapy. She couldn't get through it.
"It was that night, lying in a hospital bed, that I realized I cannot do this alone," she said.
She became cancer free.
"There's nothing like the threat of losing everything to help you understand what is truly important," she said. "This past year we had our miracle. Our little baby girl Sterling is almost four months old now. She reminds me every day that taking care of my own health isn't just about me. It's about being here for those I want to take care of."
She recognized caregivers in the audience, and advised women and men to preserve their own health first, so they can continue to be present to help their loved ones.
"Tonight, I challenge each of you to think of very specific ways that you can make your personal health a priority," she said. "Make that doctor's appointment, get an extra hour of sleep tonight, pull the clothes off the treadmill, get walking. Whatever it takes, make it happen."