I wanted to share with all of you that Let Life Happen has been named to the list of “The Best Breast Cancer Blogs of 2019” by Healthline.com. There are no words that can express how grateful and humbled I am to receive this honor. It is so exciting for me that this inclusion is now for the 8th year in a row.
There is no way that I could ever repay everyone for what you gave to me so I want to share this honor with all of you. And, of course, my deepest gratitude goes out to the team at Healthline.com who has voted for me in order to help me realize a dream.Barbara Jacoby
I started writing this weekly blog a few days after being diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. But this would never have happened if it were not for my husband, Kirk. He is the one who suggested that I might want to put my thoughts on paper as a way to release what I was feeling since I was not willing to talk about it. He indicated that if I wanted to do this, he would find a meaningful way to share them. We had done a project together before which is the Let Life Happen music CD that I still love so much more than I can ever say so after a bit of prodding, I finally agreed.
The initial goal was to find a way to help others as I started to write about my experiences. And all of a sudden, I began to receive responses from people all over the world who understood exactly what I was writing because they had lived the same experiences. I can’t begin to tell you how many notes of gratitude I received from those who were so glad to know that they were not alone in their struggles in dealing with cancer.
Over the last more than 11 years of its existence, the website has been changed and updated and each time this happened, I felt like I was beginning a whole new life and, indeed, I was, in my own way. And I have continued to receive all of the support and help with everything related to the website and social media from Kirk and I am so grateful that I have made some awesome new friends who have impacted my life in ways that I could never have imagined while getting to do what I loved to do and that is to write.
But, the greatest reasons for being here has continued to be to give hope and to inspire others who are dealing with breast cancer and keep them updated with the latest information regarding treatments, therapies, trials, etc. to discuss with their medical teams in order to receive the best treatments for their particular situations. This has best been best expressed in the summary that appears on the Healthline award site:
“Two-time breast cancer and domestic abuse survivor Barbara Jacoby is on a patient advocacy mission, and her Let Life Happen website is a wonderful place to find inspiration through news and personal stories. Browse a great mix of breast cancer information, advocacy guidance, and tips for taking control of your patient experience, plus Barbara’s own experiences from diagnosis to remission.”
As far as I am concerned, this award really belongs to Kirk who supported and helped me in every way possible to find a whole new life after cancer and to all of those people who supported me through the tough times with encouragement and gratitude for my sharing with them. There is no way that I could ever repay everyone for what you gave to me so I want to share this honor with all of you. And, of course, my deepest gratitude goes out to the team at Healthline.com who has voted for me in order to help me realize a dream.
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.