Actress Fran Drescher is author of two New York Times best sellers and a 10-year uterine cancer survivor. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
“It took me two years and eight doctors to get a proper diagnosis with uterine cancer. I got in the stirrups more times than Roy Rogers.
“The reason was because uterine cancer typically hits women who are post-menopausal or obese. Since I was neither, I kept slipping through the cracks. I realized that we have a medical community that kind of subscribes to the philosophy of ‘If you hear hooves galloping, don’t look for a zebra, it’s probably a horse.’ But if you happen to be a zebra, you’re going to slip through the cracks. By the grace of God, I was still in Stage 1 because I was lucky that cancer happened to be very slow-growing. And [I was helped by] my persistence to keep trying to recognize what was really wrong.
“I feel like I got famous, I got cancer and I lived to talk about it. So, I’m talking about it. Life hands you blows, and what you do with it and how you grow through it and what becomes of you as a result is what makes all the difference. It can be an opportunity for you to have a more purposeful life. Sometimes the best gifts come in the ugliest packages.”
This excerpt was from the December 6 Washington Post Live program Chasing Cancer. Video of the discussions can be see here.
