Breast cancer survivor finds peace in providing journals for fellow cancer patients
When going through life’s battles, we all need something, or someone, to lean on.
For breast cancer survivor Cheryl Parish, 63, of Slippery Rock Township, that person was God, after she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in February 2022.
“When I'm going through a storm I just rely on God, and I talk to Him like he's my best friend,” Parish said.
Some of these conversations Parish likes to write down in a journal, which she said helps her pour her heart out about everything that broke it.
This healing method of hers has lead Parish to take her love for craft-making to another level by making journals for other cancer patients to write down their thoughts or use it for anything they see fit.
“I make journals for them to write their own stories,” Parish said. “A long time ago when I went through something very traumatic I was seeing a therapist, and she asked if I believe in God, and I said ‘Yes, I do.’ She said when your kids go to sleep at night write a letter to God every night.
“It is a healing process writing down your thoughts and prayers asking God to get through this.”
Parish did just that, and now, she said she has made over 80 journals during the past year to help her fellow cancer patients tell their own stories in their own way.
“I thought I needed to give back,” Parish said. “I'm really good at making paper things. I thought I'll make journals and bring them with little gifts. I did these for the different seasons and stuff, and as I would get stuff done I would take them over.”
Parish brings her finished journals and gifts to Stacy Meyer, an oncology patient navigator at Independence Health System, who then distributes them.
“Cheryl came to me because of her journey with cancer,” Meyer said. “I helped her with some services and basically she wanted to give back. She was actually making journals for me even going through her treatment. She wanted to give back to patients, and she surprises me all the time.”
Meyer initially helped Parish find some wigs she liked when going though her treatment, as well as some hats.
“It made me feel like a person,” Parish said.
Parish said her journals are not like any notepad you can find at your local store.
She builds in designs that go with the changing seasons out of simple arts and crafts materials, or just about anything she can get her hands on.
A lot of the journals she makes have “girlie” themes to them, but due to recent demands from the male cancer patients, she has since expanded her designs.
“I have a lot of favorites,” Parish said. “They are like my babies. It's not really the ‘girlie girl’ ones that resonate with me. My favorite one that I've made looks like an old reader from the 1930s. It has secret pockets in it and some neat gadgets hanging in it. It looks like someone's old file folder.”
When Parish brought the journals designed for men, Meyer said she was blown away by what she did.
“(Parish) antiqued them and made them look black and white,” Meyer said. “She even coffee stained the actual paper. Then she puts the paper in the oven. It crinkles and makes it look old and the stain stays on the paper — if I put the paper in the oven I'd have a fire.”
One of the women cancer patients who received one of Parish’s journals is Amy Nagy, of West Sunbury.
Nagy said she was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2021 and has been on active treatment since then.
“It will be a lifelong battle,” Nagy said. “I have outpatient treatments every three weeks.”
Nagy calls her journal her “daily affirmation book,” where she writes down her daily struggles.
“It has helped me to reestablish my relationship with God, and this, in turn, has helped me find peace,” Nagy said. “I'm guilty of bottling things up, so I would say get the emotions out. Things are what they are. You just have to deal with it and move on. That's just how I'm making it through.”
Meyer said she works closely with many cancer patients, including Nagy, and she has seen firsthand the healing power of the journals that Parish makes.
“I think the patients need to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for a lot of them,” Meyer said. “Them knowing this was made by somebody who went through the same, or similar journey as another person and knowing that somebody with big heart made something out of love.
“It makes them feel special and they deserve to feel special going through such a trying time.”
Through her efforts, Parish hopes that her way of giving back inspires others to give back in any way they can, because she said she believes everyone has a gift that they can give.
“For the people going through the cancer you can volunteer to be the person who gives out the snacks and talks to the people and lets them know you are there for them,” Parish said. “There are so many ways you can volunteer to help these people out. What a feeling to know you're a part of something bigger. There are always people who love people and they just want to give back.”
Parish said she is at peace with the struggles she has faced in her life and that everything she does moving forward is meant to serve a higher purpose in her eyes.
“I don't want any of the glory for this,” Parish said. “This doesn't belong to me, this belongs to God. If He sets something on your heart, you do it.”
