Market:  Houston
Athlete:  Emily Ruyle, Marathon Oil

Cancer…it’s never a word you want to hear…at any age.  Cancer…it’s not a word you expect to hear when you’re 30, healthy, and leading an active lifestyle.  Cancer is a six-letter word that slaps you in your face giving you the shock of your life then kicks you again when you’re down.  

Last October, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 30.  I was in my prime physically and in the middle of building my career.  As you can imagine this was some of the worst news ever.    I got the diagnosis at my primary care physician’s office and had to wait five days to get into MD Anderson to get the subtype, staging, and treatment plan.  Those five days were hell. I would just lay in my bed and cry.  Some how some way I was able to force myself to get up and go to the gym which did offer some relief, but I would just go back home and cry some more.   I remember speaking to Mike, a very good friend of mine, who had cancer about 10 years ago.  He told me that the next five days would be the worst; once I had a treatment plan it would be better.  He told me not to let my mind wander and try to avoid Internet diagnosing…you’ll only scare yourself.  He also told me that it’s ok to have all the feelings I was having, just not to unpack my bags and get stuck there.  That sound advice and a lot of prayer is what got me through those five terrible days.  

Mike was right those first five days were the worst.  Once I got into MD Anderson, met my care team and had a treatment plan things were looking better.  That day had many ups and downs, but by the time I left that day, my attitude had drastically changed to “I am going to beat it”.    I received my initial staging of stage III and had to wait and do more scans to determine if it had spread.  This next set of days of waiting would be the second worst in all of this.  Every time the doctor called to give you the report on the scan you were scared.  Thankfully, for me it hadn’t spread any further than the lymph nodes in my armpits and clavicle area.   For the next six months, I’d be doing chemotherapy.  I would start off with four rounds of AC (Adriamycin & Cyclophosphamide) every three weeks and then switch to once weekly Taxol for 12 weeks.  Followed by surgery and then 33 rounds of radiation.  During surgery they removed the lump and 25 lymph nodes from my armpit, they all came back cancer FREE!  My doctors said to me that this is what everyone wants and hopes for, but not everyone gets!  

I am often asked how did you do so well or wow you are so strong and an inspiration.  Those comments are a very difficult thing for me to process, understand, or even answer…many people go through this and do just fine, how is my story any different or better.  Quite frankly it is not, I just have a different circle of people to impact, that’s all.   

If I had to pinpoint the things that helped me specifically get through all of this I’d say it was a combination of the following:  First and foremost my faith.  Second my family and friends that stepped up to the plate to help me get through this by either taking me to appointments, checking in on me, or just trying to help me be as “normal” as possible.  I’d say having a support group is key in any major diagnosis.  Keeping a positive attitude was pretty important too.  I won’t lie and say it was peachy all the time.  There were some bad days, but ultimately I just kept a positive attitude about it all.  There wasn’t anything I could do to change the situation, so why sit in a sour state and feel miserable.  I would make jokes or laugh about it because it made me feel better about it all.  I was able to continue working throughout treatment, which helped keep my mind off things.  I also kept going to crossfit…that surprises a lot of people.  Trust me when I say I had to back off a lot!  I went from going five times to two -to- three times a week, if I was lucky.  I had to scale a bunch!  Which was very hard for me mentally at the beginning.  My pride was getting in the way!  I had to take on a different attitude, I wasn’t there to be the best, I was there to save my life. However I did manage to keep squatting heavy, which ultimately made me happy.  I didn’t mind losing my breasts, but I would’ve minded losing my big back squat!   

I would also say that because I was healthy and very active prior to my cancer diagnosis, that really helped my body be able to handle it all with minimal side effects and get through it the way I did.

Stay tuned for Part #2 of Emily’s story.