“I am Sailing Through Life!”

Turning a life changing event into a NEW way of living by building a community of support, hope, and encouragement to navigate the challenges of life.

My journey started in August 2017. I had a mole on my leg that was giving me a little trouble. I bumped it and it wasn’t healing right. I had a biopsy done. The doctor called me at work with the results of the biopsy. All I heard was “malignant melanoma”. I had no idea what all that meant…I just knew at that moment I had CANCER! 

After surgery to remove the mole and a few lymph nodes, I waited for the results. It seemed like forever. I got a call from my surgeon on 9/11 and was told I had stage III melanoma and luckily, I was eligible to get treatment.

This new world I was forced into had a big learning curve. I started my year-long adventure of immunotherapy infusion every 2 weeks until October of 2018. By November, I had a scan and it was all clear! In December I had the port removed. Just weeks later, on January 7, 2019, I woke up and got ready for work. As I leaned against the counter, I found a lump in my upper thigh. I went back to the surgical oncologist that morning to have a biopsy done. Days later it was confirmed that it was melanoma.

I can’t even begin to tell you how disappointing that was. So, back to surgery and the removal of more lymph nodes. After surgery, In March 2019, I started another year of immunotherapy infusion. My last infusion was in February 2020. I now have lymphedema in my left leg from lymph node surgery. 

One month later, the pandemic started. I realized it was time to put a new plan into action. To no longer just exist, but to thrive. So, last year, I made a major life transition. I sold everything, moved across the country to enjoy the warm weather all year, and now I spend most of my time on my sailboat. My plan is to take advantage of the time I have NOW, and I am living my best life.

Going through cancer twice has truly been a challenging experience, but I have made something amazing out of it. I now host a podcast “Sailing Through Life” to support and empower those who are dealing with cancer. By sharing the journey of others who have been through cancer and offering ways to get through challenging times, my hope is to provide a community where no one feels alone.

With her Sailing Through Life podcast, Lorie is on a mission to broaden her reach and expand her community of support throughout the world to help others find ways to cope with challenging times. Learn more about Lorie and tune into her Sailing Through Life podcast episodes here: https://sailingthroughlifepodcast.com/