We were lucky to catch up with Liz Almli recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Liz thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
Life is full of defining moments. As a physician whose been involved in the care of cancer patients for over 25 years, never, ever, did I think I would be one. I was a healthy woman in my early forties with no family history of any type of cancer. After a normal mammogram, I felt a lump that turned out to be an aggressive form of breast cancer.
The two scariest days in a cancer patients’ life… First, hearing the words you have cancer. Your mind races down every dark rabbit hole of what if’s and you quickly become aware that cancer is about to impact every area of your life. The feelings of loss of control over my physical health bled over into my emotional wellbeing. Cancer treatment is full of challenges but the fear of not being there for my children’s important milestones as they faced the challenges of growing up was overwhelming.
Once I got a treatment plan in place, I began to feel some semblance of control and I was able to focus on my mission – to kill the cancer. The next year was a blur of treatment with chemotherapy, mastectomies, breast reconstruction, and a new targeted drug therapy.
Then, the second scariest day in my cancer journey. Congratulations! You are done with treatment! I should be celebrating but instead, I felt beat up and anxious. Now what? I wait for it to come back? I was a lucky one. I had resources available to me and an incredible support system. Others are not so fortunate.
My cancer experience prompted me to reevaluate the priorities in my own life to achieve a better work/life balance. As a physician living the cancer experience, I had gained a unique perspective into being a patient. I knew there were other survivors who would need help navigating the challenges of cancer treatment and long-term support for their survivorship. I retired from my hospital practice, reduced my schedule to part time outpatient surgery, and focused my efforts on volunteering as the President of the Tucson Cancer Conquerors, a non-profit healthy survivorship program for cancer survivors and their families.
The Tucson Cancer Conquerors offers a unique approach to providing support to cancer survivors with programs based on exercise, nutrition, education and peer support. Providing support means different things to different people. Counseling support group therapy works well for some, but I felt awkward sharing deeply personal challenges and emotions with a circle of strangers. It often involved passing a tissue box and feeling worse after I left. At TCC we offer a variety of wellness programs that are designed to create a comfortable environment conducive to fostering relationships while participating in an activity. Our peer-supporters have actually been through the treatment process and offer an encouraging and positive look ahead, from completing the acute treatment phase to moving forward as a healthy survivor.
Being out in nature is therapeutic so most of our programming is held outdoors. We are an all-volunteer organization so all of our programs are member driven and based on the interests of the group. If you like to read, you can join the book club under the park shade trees to escape a bit of reality and hang out with fellow book lovers. If you like to garden, you can get to know other TCC members while working in our organic garden. If your interest is exercise, maybe you would enjoy walking, hiking, or our many fitness classes. If you love to plan social activities, you can join our volunteers for coffee café, monthly lunches and our birthday celebrations. As people learn what they have in common with other survivors they build trust and friendships, and the sharing becomes easier. I am incredibly proud of our members and their support of one another. There really is healing in helping.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a Tucson native and a University of Arizona Wildcat! I started my career in medicine as an intensive care unit nurse. My plan was to continue on to medical school, but marriage, mortgage, and money (or lack there-of) kept moving that goalpost. Circumstances change, and years later I found myself a single parent of a 2-year-old and out of excuses to pursue my dream.
With amazing support of friends and family, I made the decision to quit my job and return to school. The prospect of eight more years of medical training while juggling finances and my little family was daunting, but those years were going to pass anyway – I might as well be doing something I really love. Along that journey, I met my husband, grew my family, completed my anesthesia residency and set up a private practice. We now have 2 grown boys and 2 grandchildren and love to take everyone on outdoor adventures. I have been blessed with a wonderful family and rewarding career. Life is good!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My anesthesia residency training was at a level one trauma center. I saw some of the most devastating injuries and the most astounding recoveries. The human body has an amazing capacity to heal itself and the brightness of the human spirit is tough to extinguish.
I always marveled at how resilient these individuals and their families were and wondered how they managed to just get through the day.
Our jobs, and life in general, can be stressful and we have to make a conscious effort not to dwell on the negative but to focus on small victories. The average person has 60,000 thoughts per day: 80% of those are negative and 95% are repetitive. We are in the habit of rolling those negative thoughts over and over again and missing the gift that is today.
Cancer treatment was truly the most physically and mentally challenging thing I have ever been through. There were days on my way to chemo when I hadn’t recovered from the last round and I felt like, I just can’t do this anymore. A friend of mine sent me encouragement. “So far your record for getting through tough days is 100%. You got this!” She was right. When things get tough it’s small baby steps. One foot in front of the other. Every day is a new day. I was stronger than I ever could have imagined. There is always something to be grateful for.
My personal physical challenges related to cancer inspired me to become a Certified Cancer Exercise Trainer. These fitness principles are the basis for the TCC Get Fit classes, helping others to get strong, and stay strong long after treatment is through.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Many of us have demanding careers. Unique to hospital-based physicians are the long work hours. Call shifts are typically 24 hours and if you are short staffed you may have to staff an OR the next day. Personal time is hard to come by and nights, weekends, and holidays are often spent away from your family.
My private practice anesthesia partner and I worked for one of the large groups in town at a busy hospital. We were both married and had small children at home. We realized this lifestyle was not conducive to raising a family and decided we needed to make a change. We researched opportunities, quit our jobs, and started our own anesthesia group where members could job share, covering each other for those important events for our spouses and children. We recruited like-minded physicians and the group rapidly grew, becoming extremely successful with high partner satisfaction.
Little did I know, one year later, this career decision would afford me the flexibility and professional support so important to me while going through cancer treatment.
Don’t settle for being stuck. It’s never too late to make a change. Sometimes it just takes identifying a need, doing your homework, and surrounding yourself with creative people you trust to make the magic happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: TucsonCancerConquerors.org
- Instagram: tucsoncancerconquerors
- Facebook: Tucson Cancer Conquerors
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqVduaJHRkutyLStvh_b3mg/featured
Image Credits
Rocky LaRose and Marion Kaufer