Editor's Note: NewsChannel 2 anchorwoman Wendy Chioji is grateful to all of the viewers who have expressed their best wishes as she wages her fight against breast cancer.

Chioji has chosen to use NewsChannel2000.com as her way of keeping the public updated on her health. New diary entries will be posted every Friday.

BREAST CANCER INFORMATION Four Steps Promote Early Detection WENDY'S DIARY Oct. 31: Ride For The Roses Oct. 24: Another Cycling Weekend Oct. 18: An Emotional Finish Oct. 17: Singin' In The Rain Oct 16: Rally In Indianapolis Oct. 15: Chilling In Arkansas Oct. 14: Monster Crosswinds Oct. 13: Tailwind To Texas Oct. 12: An Uphill Climb Oct. 11: The Race Begins Previous Diary Entries WEB LINKS Florida Hospital mammography locations Complete Guide For Breast Cancer Breast Cancer Decision Guide Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation National Breast Cancer Coalition American Cancer Society National Breast Cancer Coalition INTERACTIVE Breast Cancer Survivors: Share Your Experiences Meet Other Breast Cancer Survivors

I was the commencement speaker this week at the Celebration High School graduation.

It was supposed to be a motivational speech, and I briefly considered talking about overcoming cancer and moving on with life. But in the end, I decided not to. I decided that for a group of 17 and 18 year olds, talking about cancer, even though it's a story with a happy ending (so far), would be too foreign and difficult for them to relate to (or to pull positive vibes from).

Instead, I gave them a list of "life lessons," illustrated by mostly funny anecdotes from my career. For instance, number five was "Laugh at Yourself/Don't take yourself so seriously." And I told the story of how I was the live lead story at 11 p.m. when I first got to Orlando 14 years ago.

I wanted to make a big splash with the big story about a Seminole County neighborhood fighting to keep a condo/apartment complex from coming. At the end of my live shot, I meant to say "Residents don't want a neighborhood with higher density" or "Residents don't want any more neighbors than they already have."

What I said was "Residents don't want any more dense neighbors." Then, Steve Rondinaro (anchor at that time) said, "Who wants to live next to stupid people?" I'm sure the kids got lots more out of a story like that. (lots more laughs, anyway ... and a decent lesson.)

We have just ended the May ratings period, and I'm happy about that. There's always more pressure during ratings, even though we just need to do the same solid job reporting the news that we always do.

May is a really big month for us, because the ratings we get in May hold us through the summer to the November ratings book. We did really well, and the bosses are very happy. All of us are, actually.

If you remember, I missed almost the whole May ratings book last year. That was during the surgery and chemo. It seems like a lifetime ago. People ask me for a chronology of treatment events from last year, and I can't even remember them. Even the chemo doesn't seem like it was so bad (although I won't tell that to my friend, Donna. I'm sure she'd disagree, having to go through it all for a second time).

But, this week, I went to a luncheon, and the institutional smell of the food brought that sick chemo feeling back in record time. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't even thinking about it at the time, but my brain was reacting and revolting almost before the smell reached my nose. Yuck. Of course, this time around, I still ate lunch. And it was good.

One of the big lessons I took away from the cancer experience last year, was to stop putting off things I really want to do, whether it's spending time with friends instead of doing something I need to do or telling my friends how much they mean to me instead of assuming they know it or going on big vacations that I've put off for years.

You just never know if you'll get the chance to do those things, so do them now. On that note, I'm about to take that big vacation that I've put off for years. I'll check back in in two weeks, and I'll have pictures. Ciao.

Wendy
May 24, 2002

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