Author Sarrah Strimel Bentley: I Survived Cancer and Here Is How I Did It

Cancer is a horrible and terrifying disease. Yet millions of people have beaten the odds and beat cancer. Authority Magazine started a new series called “I Survived Cancer and Here Is How I Did It”. In this interview series, we are talking to cancer survivors to share their stories, in order to offer hope and provide strength to people who are being impacted by cancer today. As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarrah Strimel Bentley.

A Breast Cancer Survivor, public speaker, and mother via surrogacy to her baby boy Chance, Sarrah is an advocate for young women facing the same diagnosis. She chronicled her journey on her Instagram, through “The Breast Cancer Diaries” and “The Surrogacy Diaries,” and she co-founded “A Chance For Life,” a nonprofit that funds surrogacy journeys for breast cancer survivors that can’t afford them. Sarrah has partnered with Bloomingdales, Ford Motors, Eli Lilly and Company, General Electric Health Care, Nature’s Bounty and Hologics on their breast cancer initiatives. She has been featured on Good Morning America, ABC News, Newsweek and NY1. She has appeared in seven Broadway shows and launched two successful yoga brands throughout her career. Sarrah’s personal journey inspired her to coin the phrase “joy mining,” and she lives each day mining the joy out of every moment.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! We really appreciate the courage it takes to publicly share your story. Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your background and your childhood backstory?

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was there I fell in love with dancing at the age of three, and knew I wanted to perform on Broadway one day. When I was a senior at The Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, I booked the musical “The Producers” and achieved my dream at the age of 21. I have lived in NYC for 20 years and have performed in seven different Broadway shows. I went on to launch two successful yoga brands, both in New York City and The Hamptons. I am an avid yogi, surfer, adventurer and lover of this thing called life. I have the best husband in the world, and we currently split our time with our miracle baby Chance between Brooklyn and East Hampton.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Sometimes you are put on a road you didn’t expect to be on. You have to get to the end of that road to continue your journey. It’s you who decides how you want to walk down it. Even on the most treacherous of roads, there is joy along the way. Keep your head up, eyes open and walk with joy.”

Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about surviving cancer. Do you feel comfortable sharing with us the story surrounding how you found out that you had cancer?

I was walking at sunset with my husband (then boyfriend) down our beach path at our house. I had an itch under my armpit, and when I reached down to scratch it, I felt a lump the size of a walnut under my fingers. After advocating for myself to get an ultrasound (it was during the COVID pandemic, and I was only 38), multiple biopsies would reveal I had HR+, HER2-, high-risk early breast cancer (EBC).

What was the scariest part of that event? What did you think was the worst thing that could happen to you?

The scariest part was hearing the words, “You have breast cancer.” And then, almost everything that followed was terrifying. The unknown, the pain I would endure, the parts of my body I would lose…all of it. The worst thing that could happen to me? That I would die having never become a mother or marrying James, the man of my dreams and boyfriend at the time. (He’s now my husband.)

How did you react in the short term?

I buzzed my head with an electric shaver and settled in for the marathon ahead. I stayed present, mined the joy that was still around me, trusted my team, allowed myself to feel everything and remembered to keep singing and dancing and preserving my strong body.

After the dust settled, what coping mechanisms did you use? What did you do to cope physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?

As a yogi, I continued to run towards the body that betrayed me, not away from it. I practiced yoga to get to know my new post-cancer body. I talked to my therapist to unpack the trauma of treatment and fear of survivorship. I started a nonprofit to use my experience to help others. I became an advocate for those experiencing the same things. I slept when I needed to sleep and continued to live the life I loved pre-cancer. Instead of comparing myself to my PBC (pre-breast cancer) self, I celebrated the woman that grew wings and flew from the flames.

Is there a particular person you are grateful towards who helped you learn to cope and heal? Can you share a story about that?

My husband. He proposed to me during chemotherapy, never left my side after my diagnosis and woke me up every morning (even when I looked like a bald potato during chemotherapy) and said, “Good morning, most beautiful girl in the world.” He could have bailed and took the easy road without a partner going through cancer, but he stayed, and he loved me even more. His love for me and my love for him was what kept me going.

In my own cancer struggle, I sometimes used the idea of embodiment to help me cope. Let’s take a minute to look at cancer from an embodiment perspective. If your cancer had a message for you, what do you think it would want or say?

I arrived as a messenger, and as Robin Roberts would say, I urge you to make your mess your message. I may have taken so much from you, but in me, you found your path. I am proud of you.

What did you learn about yourself from this very difficult experience? How has cancer shaped your worldview? What has it taught you that you might never have considered before? Can you please explain with a story or example?

Cancer is the great leveler. It can happen to anyone, at any age or socioeconomic strata. It taught me to slow down and truly look around for all the small moments of joy that exist. As a New Yorker, I was living so fast and so forward, I realized I missed so much in the seemingly mundane. The mundane can be magic.

How have you used your experience to bring goodness to the world?

That’s what I now dedicate my life to, by sharing my story through public speaking, chronicling my experiences on my social media accounts and helping women have babies after cancer through my foundation, “A Chance For Life.” I’m also proud to be partnering with Eli Lilly and Company to help raise awareness for HR+, HER2-, high-risk early breast cancer. I am thankful that my doctor recommended a first of its class treatment, Verzenio, as part of my treatment plan and I want to do what I can to encourage people to initiate conversations with their doctors to learn about clinical risk factors of recurrence and potential treatment options. Through sharing my story, I receive a message every day from someone newly diagnosed that my story brings them hope and, to me, that is everything.

What are a few of the biggest misconceptions and myths out there about fighting cancer that you would like to dispel?

I always encourage newly diagnosed women to not forecast. Don’t go on message boards — it’s always the worst experiences that are posted there (like a Yelp review). Every cancer and every body is different. Not everyone will be extremely sick during chemotherapy or burn madly during radiation. Stay present and don’t fall prey to the negativity that can be found out there.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experiences and knowledge, what advice would you give to others who have recently been diagnosed with cancer? What are your “5 Things You Need To Beat Cancer? Please share a story or example for each.

- Mine your joy in the darkest days.

- Lean on your support system and don’t let it make you feel weak.

- Keep singing and dancing and celebrating the big milestones and the micro wins.

- Keep doing the things you love and that make you “you.” Eat the muffin. It won’t make your cancer come back.

- Welcome and accept the new you that is emerging through the cancer journey.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be?

I would continue to do the work I am now doing, which makes me feel very proud. I would urge people to mine their joy. I think if you can be joyful in the darkest times, you develop a resiliency that transcends hardships and is infectious to those whose lives intersect with yours.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. :-)

BEYONCE!!!! Hahahaha. She’s one of the most talented, hardworking, creative and powerful women in show business. Plus… she’s BEYONCÉ.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can follow me on Instagram @sarrahstrimelbentley, Facebook @sarrah.strimel and TikTok @sarrahstrimelbentley. My website is www.damngoodandco.com.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

About The Interviewer: Savio P. Clemente, TEDx speaker and Stage 3 cancer survivor, infuses transformative insights into every article. His journey battling cancer fuels a mission to empower survivors and industry leaders towards living a truly healthy, wealthy, and wise lifestyle. As a Board-Certified Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC, ACC), Savio guides readers to embrace self-discovery and rewrite narratives by loving their inner stranger, as outlined in his acclaimed TEDx talk: “7 Minutes to Wellness: How to Love Your Inner Stranger.” From his best-selling book to his impactful work as a media journalist covering resilience and wellness trends with notable celebrities and TV personalities, Savio’s words touch countless lives. His philosophy, “to know thyself is to heal thyself,” resonates in every piece.