I Choose Every Single Day to Live My Life!

I was first diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in 2013, at the age of 36. My son was only 11 months old at the time. All of my energy that should have gone into being a mom to this precious little boy had to go into the fight of my life.

[Treatment] took up the next year of my life. When I thought it was all behind me, an MRI showed that the cancer was back and had spread to my liver and bones. Facing my own mortality and the all-encompassing fear of not getting to see my child grow-up, my new fight began.

Life has been a roller coaster since my [metastatic breast cancer (mBC)] diagnosis in 2015. We have had great progress (even 15+ months of NED [No Evidence of Disease]!) and many setbacks (a nearly-three-month battle with a staph infection that allowed my cancer to run rampant). Through it all, I continue to work as a nurse in a busy hospital and volunteer at both my church and my son’s school.

I am a room parent, a t-ball coach, and a soccer mom. I am a wife who loves her husband more than anything! I am a daughter, a sister, an aunt, and a friend to an amazing tribe of people. I choose every single day to live my life!

I won’t allow cancer to take away my joy and love of life! Don’t get me wrong, I definitely have bad days. Days when I let the fear creep in and the pain get me down. But, when those moments pop up, I take a deep breath and tell myself, “not today, cancer doesn’t get to win today.”