Stronger Than Cancer

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More than five years ago, Crisann Olives-Celdran wrote "I had breast cancer at 26!" for Cosmo. Today, she's enjoying every single day she spends with her twin boys, Mikael and Matteo, and runs her own furniture business.

When Cancer Hit
Crisann felt perfectly healthy and was newly married when a lump in her breast turned out to be malignant.

What proved more frightening for her back then was that the cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes. Still, she knew she wasn't giving up easily. "I have always been a take-charge type of girl, and being diagnosed did not change that," she shares. "The Internet and books were great sources of information. An unwavering faith, a great team of doctors, an ultra-supportive husband, supportive family and friends, and other cancer survivors who shared their experiences throughout all comprised my 'survival kit.'"

A Life-changing Experience
Crisann feels that each day is a blessing because she knows, too, that the cancer can come back. "I have seen it cause sadness, am witness to survivors' sufferings, and have even buried some friends," says Crisann. "But more significantly, I have seen how it has made so many wiser, stronger, better. It has helped me see the strength of the human spirit."

She knows that she can help more people by sharing her experience. She is involved in the I Can Serve Foundation, which is spearheaded by Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala. The foundation aims to empower those that have been diagnosed with cancer thru information that can help them make better and more proactive decisions about their diagnosis.

"They say no one knows how to have cancer and that is true," she reveals. "But I do know much more now and people can benefit from it. I have been blessed with a whole new set of eyes. All other things seem trivial. I know now what really matters."

Miracles
"In 2005, we were given the biggest surprise ever," Crisann cheerfully recalls. "I found out that I was not just having a baby; I was having two!"

"It isn't every day that one can say she wakes up to a miracle. I wake up to two miracles every day. And that is way too much fun."

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