The Finalist Hero of Hope Patient Awards: Jearlean Taylor

As a psychologist dedicated to helping people cope with disasters, Jamie D. Aten knew the damage “survivor’s guilt” can do. As a stage IV colon cancer survivor, he says, “I wasn’t prepared for it to hit me personally.”

For Erika Brooks, it took some time to adjust to what it means to have an incurable cancer. She says, “at first, I kept thinking it was a death sentence.” Eventually, she came to see her cancer in a different light.

Brigid Wallace contemplates the choices she made when living in the “new normal” after her cancer diagnosis. She describes the struggles and personal victories that tested her faith and strength after she learned she had non-Hodgkin lymphoma.