Wolf, a 1989 graduate of East Liverpool High School, was born and raised in East Liverpool. She attended Kent State University for public relations and marketing, which she does for a living.

In 2014, Wolf was diagnosed with advanced and aggressive stage three breast cancer in her left breast and left lymph nodes. She was prescribed all the typical oncology treatments and underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (chemotherapy prior to surgery) before having a mastectomy followed by six weeks of radiation and reconstruction.

After her diagnosis when she was still trying to process it all and keep family updated, Wolf started blogging to communicate with her family.

“The blog was a way for me to really process all of what was happening. It just became this thing that was bigger than just communicating,” Wolf said. “It was really a way of processing, to look at what I was thinking in my head once I got it out into words.”

Author Erika K. Wolf shares from her book and speaks on gratitude to participants at Monday’s Yoga in the Park at Thompson Park. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Wolf started to realize the blog was helpful to more than just herself when she started getting requests from others asking if they could pass on what she shared to others who were going through the same thing.

“It just kind of got legs of its own and a lot of people said you should write and book,” Wolf said. “I considered it and then I got cold feet and then I considered it again and got cold feet again.”

In 2022, Wolf decided to make the book a reality and decided to write about how oncology treatments are necessary but harsh on the body. She wanted to share information and her experiences with things that she said could help alleviate the negative side effects of treatments.

Wolf invested and participated in 16 complimentary therapies.

“What this has been about for me has been self-advocacy and understanding, that I have to stand up for myself and find what was going to work for me and not just listen to other people’s opinions, what doctors thought, what well-meaning friends and family thought and those kinds of things,” Wolf said. “Also just realizing that self-care and self-love had to commit to the equation.”

Erika K. Wolf joins Amy McCormack of Always Mindful Yoga, Ayurveda and Massage at Yoga in the Park at Thompson Park Monday where Wolf spoke on gratitude and how she survived cancer. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Wolf realized that she needed to take breaks and give herself time to rejuvenate and heal outside of her regular environment.

She was living and undergoing treatment in Colorado at the time so she would take little road trips to places around Colorado when she had the chance. During that process she learned a lot about things she could be grateful for and learned to be grateful for the diagnosis itself because through that she learned things she probably would have never learned otherwise about herself, other people, the disease and about having something that left her debilitated.

“I had to surrender to a diagnosis and really accept the fact that I had no control over this,” Wolf said. “I could do what I could but really my therapist told me you can’t grasp a fistful of water, you have to open your hands and receive what is meant for you.”

For Wolf it was a lot about just being able to find comfort in an uncomfortable time.

At the time of diagnosis and treatment, Wolf’s children were teenagers and she wanted them to see a role model and what it was like to deal with large problems in life.

Author Erika K. Wolf shares from her book and speaks on gratitude to participants at Monday’s Yoga in the Park at Thompson Park. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Wolf wrote her book “Cancer and Other Things I’m Grateful For: How Self-Advocacy and Integrative Medicine Leads to Healing.” The book was accepted for publishing in January and released June 27.

Getting the book published was on Wolf’s list of her most important achievements.

“I want my survival of cancer to be more than about my survivorship alone,” Wolf said. “I want to be able to help other people through what I experienced.”

She also notes that the word cancer can be replaced with any other word and that some of the things she wrote about are things that could help people in their day-to-day lives such as having boundaries and self-care and self-love along with taking time out for themselves. Getting healing from complimentary therapies doesn’t have to happen just during a serious illness, but used as a method to help people feel better anytime.

Some of the complementary therapies she used were acupuncture, Chinese herbs, nutrition counseling, nutritional supplements, massage, lymphatic drainage, organic and natural skin care, yoga and more.

Author Erika K. Wolf shares from her book and speaks on gratitude to participants at Monday’s Yoga in the Park at Thompson Park. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Yoga helped her not only physically, but mentally and spiritually. It helped her get out of the mindset of surviving and into the mindset of thriving.

Wolf attended the most recent Yoga in the Park, which is an event held every Monday at Thompson Park and hosted by Amy McCormack of Always Mindful Yoga, Ayurveda and Massage. During the session, Wolf participated in the yoga and then spoke to those attending the event on gratitude and how she ended up being grateful for her cancer because it led her to so much more to be grateful for.

Wolf will continue her tour to promote her book about her battle and survivorship with cancer and the importance of advocating for oneself in East Liverpool with a meet and greet and book signing at The Pear Tree Shop at 433 Broadway St. from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday.

For additional information on Wolf or her book visit her website www.erika@erikakwolf.com

kgarabrandt@mojonews.com

Erika K. Wolf, cancer survivor and author, participates in Yoga in The Park at Thompson Park Monday. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Erika K. Wolf, cancer survivor and author, participates in Yoga in The Park at Thompson Park Monday. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

East Liverpool native Erika K. Wolf with her new book written on how she survived cancer with self-advocacy. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)