Coming Home from Breast Cancerville

“Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, when it dawned on me I was a long way from home I set
off to go back. Unfortunately, the home I left is one I can never return to.”

Liz Van Vliet thought that when her hair started growing back, the worst part of having breast cancer was behind her. She became adept at ‘smiling and waving’ and convincing the world that it was onwards and upwards for her and her family. But inside, she was feeling anything like a survivor; acutely depressed and suicidal as she dealt with chronic pain and PTSD. Making it onto Survivor Highway meant accepting that this was not a round trip and that she needed to create a new home and a new normal for her and her family.

Coming Home from Breast Cancerville is the story of how she and her family navigated the potholes and obstacles and found the strength to create a new home and find new purpose and meaning on Survivor Highway. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to know what surviving actually looks like.