Survivors of childhood trauma, what grounds you? What puts you in your body, gives you joy, reaffirms your strength? It changes for me, depending on the day, the mood, the weather within and without. It suddenly occurred to me that I needed a pair of ballet shoes. When I was young, my dance teacher demanded our ballet slippers be tight, too tight. They hurt until they broke. The good thing about being an adult is that you can choose your own shoes.

I thought my experience was rare. During my first cancer, my parents ensured I received the medical care, the pills, and the nutrition I needed to stay alive. Physical, but not emotional, survival. But decades later, I see that repression to the point of cruelty is common. During my second cancer, I watch as healthcare providers act like decapitated beings, robots with salaries who still eat and drink. But I am neither meat nor machine. Cancer survival: We are more than bodie

What does trauma look like? Appearances can be deceiving, as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common and can happen to anyone.

A survivor of cancer and childhood abuse learns she is not entirely free of her troubled past