SUPER GIRLS

When I was growing up, no girls had super powers in the movies that I could relate to. I guess there was Catwoman with Batman and Robin, and Supergirl who was like Superman, but none of them made me stop and say, “She looks like a good hero for me.” I guess none of them felt real to me, so I started looking around and found real women that became my super heroes.

Real heroines to me were women like Florence Nightingale, Amelia Earhart, Mother Teresa and my mother, who started her own business in 1969. I remember thinking I needed women like these to look up to so I could learn from them how to make a difference in the world.

Who would have known that now in my physical therapy practice I would get to meet the most amazing women everyday that are superheroes. They are the women in our communities that are fighting cancer. These women are amazing. They fight for life. They battle the unseen enemy and they call on every source of strength they can get to win. And sometimes in the fight they struggle with who and what they have lost along the way.

Cancer is especially difficult on families, spouses and children. Often marriages crumble and misunderstandings occur. In Amy Robach’s new book “Better,” she shares how her battle with breast cancer nearly destroyed her and her husband’s relationship and how they fought to save their marriage. This theme is not uncommon with illness of this type. In fact, my patients often describe similar personal struggles as they work to redefine their life after cancer.

Because it takes courage and strength to fight cancer, you need to surround yourself with a group of people to support you, such as your family, friends and your medical team to get you through.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and we salute all you ladies who are survivors. You are the superheroes in my eyes. Go Super Girls, you can do it!

Sheree DiBiase, PT, is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy and she and her staff can be reached in their Coeur d’Alene office at (208) 667-1988 and in the Spokane Valley at (509) 891-2623. Super girls fight cancer and we can help.