Member Spotlight: Meet Michelle

September was the month I was diagnosed with cancer. I had awakened with terrible abdominal pain in my stomach and took myself into emergency.  As soon as I arrived I was admitted.  They ran many tests and came in to tell me that I had a large abdominal mass and it needed to be removed as soon as possible.  The next day I was scheduled for surgery. After 9 1/2 hours, they came out to tell my mom that they had removed a 7 1/2 pound tumor that had spread to both ovaries and to the large intestine.  My mom told me that they told her to go home and start making funeral arrangements – that I would be gone within 3 months.  When I awoke, my family was all around my bedside and a docter was there to give me the news.  At that point I couldn’t say anything and, when my family went home, I cried hard.  The doctors told me that we could try chemo – it would have to be very aggressive – and it could cure me or it could kill me.  My thoughts were ‘what do I have to lose?’

I took a very aggressive 6 months of chemo. My hair, my eyebrows and even my toe nails and fingernails fell out – but I made it through all of that.  I got involved with others who had cancer and also became a volunteer at the hospital to give hope to others. When I felt sorry for myself I took a trip to the cancer ward at Children’s hospital and when I saw all of the kids that had cancer I stopped feeling sorry for myself.  It was a long hard battle but now I’m happy to say that I made it.  I was given three months to live September 9, 1989 and I just celebrated my 21 year remmision.  I’m doing fine now cancer-free and loving life.  Cancer taught me a number of things.  I learned that cancer knows no age, color, or race – in some way or another it affects us all.  I’m thankful and ready to live my life to the fullest.  Cancer introduced me to who I am – and I like who I met.

The content of this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice.