Young Adult Cancer Survivor and LIVESTRONG Leader: Valerie

LIVESTRONG Leaders are individuals that make a yearly significant commitment to those in their community affected by cancer by spreading the message of LIVESTRONG. They do this by fundraising, hosting events, bringing LIVESTRONG resources to their local hospitals and more. One of our amazing leaders from France, Valérie Sanja, talks about why she is involved with LIVESTRONG and what she is doing in her community to help spread the LIVESTRONG message.

What is your name, where are you from?
My Name is Valérie Sanja, a french national currently living in Germany following my recent surgery and medical follow up treatment.

How are you affected by cancer?
I am a two times synovial sarcoma survivor, initially diagnosed on March 20th, 2011, also proud to say that I have been diagnosed on a date declared by the United Nations as the International Day of Happiness! Facing cancer as a young adult was not easy but I realized very quickly that you always have a choice how you decide to handle both, your medical care and your life with cancer.

What does being a leader mean to you?
It means supporting the LIVESTRONG mission and honored to belong to the LIVESTRONGfamily. It is fighting FOR life, being empowered and proactive! As Stuart Scott said, “You beat cancer, by how you live, why you live and the manner in which you live”

Being a leader is to help those affected by cancer by supporting education, share your story to inspire hope and spread lust for life. It also means to me living by example, encourage others to opt for healthy lifestyle choices to reduce cancer risk, live better with the disease and help prevent a recurrence. And finally being a leader means to me inspiring others to take actions and get involved, break a social taboo, change the perspective people hold about the disease and reduce isolation for young adults affected by cancer.

What are you doing in your community to give back?
Enrolling with LIVESTRONG as a Leader to support fellow cancer survivors and to spread the word about the LIVESTRONG mission, available resources and services. I am the Founder of The SarcoSmile Project and The Former Cancer Girl (coming up soon). The SarcoSmile Project mission is to raise awareness for Sarcoma with the general public, to educate over healthy lifestyle choices, to change the perspective people hold about cancer, to inspire hope and spread life and empower fellow cancer survivor to take responsibility for their cancer journey, treatment and recovery. This project also aims to put more focus on patient centered care and improve the communication between patient and medical team.

I spread my very own definition of CANCER which is:

1. C as in Courageous
2. A as in Adventurous
3. N as in Naughty
4. C as in Creative
5. E as in Empowered and
6. R as in Resilient!