The Power of Persistence: #1 in a New Series by Katie Coleman, Author
Power of Persistence
I’d stared stage IV cancer in the face at twenty-nine and had come out on the other side. Yet now, the idea of facing strangers gathering in the lobby downstairs suddenly felt like an insurmountable challenge. As I hid in my room, attempting to summon the courage to go down to mingle with the writers arriving for the conference, I reminded myself of the mantra that carried me through my diagnosis, “If you can’t beat fear, just do it scared”. How’d I end up here?
A little over two years prior, on New Year’s Eve 2020, I found myself in the ER as a twenty-nine-year-old newlywed grappling with the news that they’d just found a softball-sized tumor on my right kidney and what would end up being over fifteen tumors in my liver. You’re too young for cancer looped in my head, recalling the advice from multiple clinicians I’d received while pursuing answers for my symptoms over the past year and a half.
Suddenly, no longer “Too Young for Cancer,” I walked out of the ER that night with a stage IV kidney cancer diagnosis. Over the next few months, in the height of the pandemic, I’d sit alone as strangers in white coats broke the news that I had a one-in-a-million cancer, with single-digit case reports ever documented. Surgery wouldn’t be possible, response to treatment was unlikely, and my treatment goals were only to prolong my life.
The strength, courage, and bravery I was sure I’d need to overcome cancer weren’t qualities I thought I possessed at the time. As a result, with the cards stacked against me, I wondered how I’d ever beat the odds. However, instead of relying on courage to power me through, I fell back on the one skill I knew I had on my side: the power of persistence. I leaned into my mantra of “If you can’t beat fear, do it scared” and over the next few months, I went from having zero knowledge about cancer into a self-taught expert on my own diagnosis. I sought out second, third, and fourth opinions, even moving across the country, until I eventually found a team who’d seen a case like mine and was offering a path forward.
That journey had now led me here, two years later in February of 2023, with no active cancer, summoning the courage to leave my hotel room to share my experience and the memoir I was writing with others at the conference.
I’d never considered myself a writer before tackling my memoir, and I worried I may not belong. But as I made my way downstairs, I found myself in a welcoming room of supportive, creative, and brilliant minds, all sharing experiences and offering encouraging advice. A place where everyone belonged.
I attended the conference hoping to land a book deal. When I left without one, I was reminded again of the difficult category memoirs on illness sit in, and I could have called it quits. But I knew this wasn’t the end of my story. I took the knowledge I’d gained from the conference, and I pressed on.
It took over nine clinicians and a year and a half to find my cancer. Another five opinions, four cancer centers, and an additional three months before I found anyone who’d seen a case like mine. I faced complications, an internal bleed, the pandemic, blood shortages, a historic freeze, and countless other hurdles but the power of persistence kept me pushing forward.
When I began writing my memoir, I carried that same perseverance with me as I faced a mountain of advice that “books on illness don’t sell.” I queried over fifty agents and encountered much of the same resistance. I pitched several times, always facing another defeat. However, the day I had finally begun to give up on traditional publishing, a serendipitous series of events led to me discovering a handwritten note from Hadley Vlahos, the author of “The In Between,” in a copy of her book she’d sent me. We’d connected on TikTok after her hospice videos had brought me a lot of comfort through a difficult time and she was one of the first people to provide encouragement to me on my writing journey. At the bottom of the thank you card included in her book I found the words, “I can’t wait to be reading your book one day.”
I’d listened to Hadley’s memoir on audiobook first, so I hadn’t opened the physical copy yet. I now knew after it sat in my office for a couple of weeks, there was a reason I hadn’t opened it until that day and her card was exactly the encouragement I needed. I reached back out to an agent who’d passed on my proposal earlier that day, sensing her hesitation in passing on it and her support for the book from her response. That outreach ultimately led to me landing both her as my agent and a book deal with Alcove Press within the month.
The path to success is rarely straightforward. Life is messy and full of bumps, turns, and detours along the way, but the power of persistence can move mountains. Never lose faith in yourself and always remember, every setback is just another stepping stone in your comeback story.
Over the next three months leading up to the release of my memoir “Too Young For Cancer” on November 12th, I’ll share more of my story, these learnings, and my biggest takeaways from the 2023 San Francisco Writer’s Conference that fueled my growth on the road to becoming a published author. I hope to inspire and empower others to persist in the face of adversity, whether in writing or in life. Strength isn’t the absence of fear, it’s a product of persevering through it.
I donated my book deal and will continue to donate my proceeds from it to research for rare cancers. Support is always welcomed and means the world not only to me but also to others with rare cancers, whom this research will support. More patients deserve outcomes like I’ve had so far. Signed pre-orders are available here.
