About Dr T the series creator

In our stressful, uncertain world, I believe it’s more important than ever to focus on love, connection, and self-care and to move through each day with gratitude and joy for simply being alive.

I started surfing after I was diagnosed with stage 3 metastatic breast cancer. Thinking I might die, I made the decision to really live. Surfing was something that had once felt completely out of reach, not just because of fear, but because I had been diagnosed years earlier with a severe balance disorder. After the birth of my first child, I needed a cane to walk. I had constant dizziness, vertigo, migraines, ringing in my ears, and related panic attacks. The idea of standing on a surfboard, or even next to a pool or moving water, felt impossible. But I decided to try. Just once.

 With support, I got pushed into my first wave, and when I stood up, I felt like I had done the impossible. I thought I would be done after that first magic wave but, I kept going. One wave turned into a few more. And now, the ocean has become a place of deep gratitude, healing, challenge, fear, and joy and life force for me.

Cancer taught me to do things that push me and to take calculated risks, because I feel like I was given a second life.  My health crisis also taught me that the only thing that really matters in the end is love and kindness. In my lowest moments, all I wanted was to leave as much love in the world as I could. That’s still my goal.

Through the Patience the Porcupine series, I hope to leave behind something that helps kids and families meet life with courage, mindfulness, and heart. Even in the darkest times, we can choose hope, love, gratitude, and kindness and that’s what I hope this series inspires.