{"id":26829,"date":"2021-03-04T22:12:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T22:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cmshub.wpengine.com\/?p=336981"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:15:45","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:15:45","slug":"woman-dances-through-chemo-sessions-emphasizes-importances-of-being-joyful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/woman-dances-through-chemo-sessions-emphasizes-importances-of-being-joyful\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Dances Through Chemo Sessions, Emphasizes Importances of Being \u2018Joyful\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span id=\"content-body\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"content-body\">Rena Williams radiates positivity and joy. According to friends, family, and coworkers, this has always been true of Rena, and she wasn\u2019t about to let a cancer diagnosis change that. Instead, Rena chose to dance her way through her chemotherapy sessions, getting a big surprise after her final day.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_336993\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-336993\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><span id=\"content-body\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Instagram2.png\" alt width=\"1195\" height=\"1196\" class=\"size-full wp-image-336993\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Instagram2.png 1195w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Instagram2-338x338.png 338w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Instagram2-674x675.png 674w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Instagram2-169x169.png 169w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Instagram2-768x769.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 1200px, (min-width:992px) 992px, (min-width:768px) 768px, (min-width:576px) 480px, 300px\"><\/span><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-336993\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span id=\"content-body\">Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rena_williams_\/\">Instagram\/rena_williams_<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span id=\"content-body\">Back in August of 2020, Rena went to her doctor to have a lump in her breast checked out. A few days later, while playing with her dog, Mable, in the backyard, she received the call that she had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breastcancer.org\/symptoms\/diagnosis\/trip_neg\">Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.<\/a> This type of cancer is extremely aggressive and is typically classified as grade 3, resulting in a limited amount of targeted treatments. Despite the unexpected and scary diagnosis, Rena has maintained her positivity, with a little help from her friends.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"content-body\">\u201cOur community and my family and our coworkers, it\u2019s very overwhelming,\u201d she explained in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.channel3000.com\/in-the-608-mount-horeb-native-dancing-her-way-through-cancer\/\">interview with Channel3000.<\/a> \u201cThe amount of love and support we have gotten, I never would have expected this outpouring of love and we\u2019re very lucky.\u201d Rena also has the support of her husband, Patrick, whom she met over 11 years ago at their workplace, the Swedish-American Hospital in Rockford.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"content-body\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"content-body\">\u201cIt\u2019s a mix of emotions,\u201d Patrick said. \u201cThat you care so much about this one person and at first you think of all the ways your life would be worse without her.\u201d Patrick has shown incredible strength in joining Rena in her fight against breast cancer, taking her to her chemo appointments, and being her cameraman whenever she felt like busting a move.<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"content-body\"><noscript><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aW6OID_VoVM?start=10\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span id=\"content-body\"><\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In early October, Rena went to her first chemotherapy session, and spontaneously started dancing her way back to the car once it was over. \u201cI was sitting there and thinking I wanted to leave the chemo and celebrate that I\u2019m done with this,\u201d she said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t planned, like I didn\u2019t have anything choreographed that day. I just started dancing out to the car to Rapper\u2019s Delight. There\u2019s people in their cars watching and I\u2019m thinking, \u2018Oh, my gosh.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rena decided to post the first video to her Facebook page, where she received a wave of support and attention. Form there, she knew she had to keep the tradition going. Rena began learning choreographed dances in preparation for her appointments, sometimes dressing in costume, and always displaying her infectious smile.<\/p>\n<p> <noscript><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ip-dnFMxbw0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was practicing these dances, which I don\u2019t have a dance background and I goof around at weddings, so this isn\u2019t like a pick it up super quick,\u201d Rena laughed. \u201cI have to practice quite a bit.\u201d Using her spare time, and energy, to learn new dance moves gave Rena a reason to find joy in her chemo appointments. She spread that joy to all of us who watched her videos, and to those waiting in the parking lot due to COVID restrictions for their loved ones to finish treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, Rena had her 16th and final chemotherapy session. She rang the bell and received a certificate for her massive achievement, along with a bottle of champagne and a pin that read, \u201cI DID IT!\u201d \u201cWhatever you\u2019re going through, try to find something that you can be joyful about,\u201d Rena concluded. \u201cBecause a positive attitude makes all the difference in a negative situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_336994\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-336994\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/3.png\" alt width=\"2880\" height=\"1800\" class=\"size-full wp-image-336994\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/3.png 2880w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/3-541x338.png 541w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/3-1080x675.png 1080w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/3-270x169.png 270w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/3-768x480.png 768w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/3-1536x960.png 1536w, https:\/\/d1dd4ethwnlwo2.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/3-2048x1280.png 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 1200px, (min-width:992px) 992px, (min-width:768px) 768px, (min-width:576px) 480px, 300px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-336994\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCH4vzirUaqk_BkL_4Hn1oPg\">YouTube\/Rena Williams<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Though she had prepared one final dance, she was instead surprised by a dancing flash mob! Her friends, family, and coworkers joined the cancer center staff and performed a choreographed dance to Bruno Mars\u2019 Uptown Funk. The incredibly thoughtful and touching moment brought tears to Rena\u2019s eyes as she saw before her the amazing support system she has. That community will continue to rally around Rena as she faces surgery in April, which will be followed by radiation.<\/p>\n<p> <noscript><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hRF3kqxYnGI\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>To help other women afflicted by breast cancer access potentially life-saving treatments, <a href=\"https:\/\/store.thebreastcancersite.greatergood.com\/collections\/253-gifts-that-give-more\/products\/85381-pink-ribbon-flights-of-hope?gg_medium=content&amp;gg_source=bcs&amp;gg_term=5318429&amp;gg_campaign=dancing-through-chemo&amp;gg_content=product-link\">consider donating here.<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"ctg-cta\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.thebreastcancersite.greatergood.com\/wp-content\/themes\/causeblog-v3\/assets\/img\/icon-bcs-support.png\" alt><\/p>\n<h5>Provide Mammograms<\/h5>\n<p>Support those fighting Breast Cancer at <span>The Breast Cancer Site<\/span> for free! <span>\u2192<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<nav id=\"recommended\" role=\"navigation\" aria-label=\"Recommended Articles\"><\/nav>\n<p><span class=\"sr-only\">Whizzco<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.thebreastcancersite.greatergood.com\/dancing-through-chemo\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rena Williams radiates positivity and joy. According to friends, family, and coworkers, this has always been true of Rena, and she wasn\u2019t about to let a cancer diagnosis change that. Instead, Rena chose to dance her way through her chemotherapy sessions, getting a big surprise after her final day. Photo: Instagram\/rena_williams_ Back in August of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45387,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26829\/revisions\/45387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}