ONEIDA -- Patti McGee has been cancer free for seven years. But she will never forget what it was like to be diagnosed with breast cancer. "It's like your world stops for a minute, not a minute but for a long time. At first I was very devastated," says McGee. Since that time, she has come so far. McGee has a new outlook on life and sets goals every year. Last year, she wanted to lose some of the weight she put on from her chemo treatment. She ran her first 5k. This year she wants to get her book published and she needs your help.
"The book is for all cancers not just breast cancer," says McGee, "and I'm looking for stories from children, adults, men and women, anybody." That's because the book is set up to follow the alphabet. Each letter gets a word and some advice from Patti. Then, it's followed by a letter written by a cancer survivor, caregiver or even a doctor. In writing this book, McGee is helping her wounds heel and also hoping to help others. "The first time I sat down and looked through what I wrote, I was like 'You really wrote this? Are you sure you wrote this?' I'd never done anything like that before," said McGee.
Reading those words gave her confidence to keep going, a confidence she admits was lost at times when she was fighting cancer. She also admits that her then nine year old son Dylan, kept her fighting and strong. "It takes a nine or ten year old to bring you back to reality, that you know you will get through this and trudge on."
McGee is hoping her son, who is now 16, will write the letter 'C' for Caregiver. She says he was her biggest support during her breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
If you'd like to send Patti McGee your cancer story, you can email it to pmcgee2@twcny.rr.com
