Meet Kristin Schindler - an active, creative and inspirational cancer survivor. Kristin has some big plans this year - and in order to share her great spirit in the hopes of convincing you to donate, The Jersey Tomato Press will be following Kristin's blog and her wonderful event, coming soon.

What better way to educate a loved one, or support anyone in need than by particpating in this fundraiser - run by someone who as a young girl lived through cancer, and now is determined to give back to others in a significant way.

From Kristin:

The writings of this blog are meant to provide a space and community where others affected by cancer may go. When I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 22, I never felt so lost. I found comfort in others who were generous enough to share their experiences with me, and I hope to do the same.

Thursday, December 29, 2011
Being an Athlete with Cancer
Cancer has a way of destroying the parts of you that you define yourself by. I felt cancer destroyed my ability to push my body to do great things. I am an athlete, but my treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma sucked away most of my energy. I played softball in college, and have invested years upon years into my athletic career. It took only six months of chemotherapy for my body to lose most of the muscle and endurance I had built up over 12 years.

I had expected to struggle physically while I went through treatment. And I even planned to give my body some time to recover once my treatement had ended. However, I was shocked when three months out of treatment, my energy had not bounced back according to the three month timeline my doctor had given me.

This process of rebuilding muscle, strength, and lung capacity, is anger producing and depressing at times. It is a constant comparison to the pre-cancer me. I am unsure if I will ever be the athlete I was before and I do not have time to train and workout like I did when I was in college. I am terrified that my body will never fully recover from cancer, and my athletic ability is the most glaring indication of that.

I have slowly learned to give myself a break, and relish in my small accomplishments. I still want more, but I am realizing I am in the midst of moving forward. Cancer temporarily took away certain self defining characteristics, but my drive and ambition to be better and push myself is one characteristic that has not been altered.

Coming Next: How Kristin is putting crushing cancer.

This post was originally published on EverythingChangesBook.com back in September. I was working with Kairol Rosenthal, author of Everything Changes: The Insider's Guide to Cancer in Your 20's and 30's.