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Dear Friend of Mary’s Place by the Sea,
In 2017, Sarah was working as a Clinical Psychologist in Manhattan. She was married to her college sweetheart, a mother of a little girl, and pregnant with her second. Hours before birthing her second daughter, Sarah learned that she had Stage IV cancer, which had already spread through her bones and liver.
After three months of treatment, Sarah went for a PET scan and found there was no trace of the cancer that had been teeming throughout her body. When Sarah first became a guest of ours in 2019, she was juggling her professional career and motherhood, all the while continuing with treatment to help keep the cancer at NED levels.
“I was so happy that I took the time to rest and be embraced by the people at Mary’s Place, where I felt a deep sense of permission to really take care of myself.”
In 2021, Sarah was diagnosed with cancer in her brain. Her initial scans did not detect the dust that had made its way to the cerebellum, back in 2017. At this time, Sarah began to practice self care daily.
When Sarah returned to us this fall, she particularly enjoyed services such as oncology massage, reflexology and yoga.
“For many people who experience cancer, there’s this profound sense of betrayal that you feel toward your own body. At Mary’s Place, there’s a shift that happens… you start to feel a sense of friendship budding between yourself and your body. The body therapies have been incredibly helpful in
reminding me that there is good in my body.”
Sarah has seen and felt the benefits of the communal setting that Mary’s Place offers to women who are traveling along similar paths.
“Here, everybody’s gone through something grueling… we all support each other, share resources, cry, laugh, and learn together. It’s a very bonding experience to be in a home with other women who understand each other on such an intense level. And if you want to rest in bed with a book, that’s
OK too! Mary’s Place supports all the ways we can take care of ourselves.”
Much love and gratitude,
The Team at Mary’s Place by the Sea
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