Real Life.

Real Life.

Up's. Downs. Good. Bad. Love. Hate.

I am always so grateful for what is thrown my way in life. If it's a negative, I do everything I can to find the positive in the situation. Not everyone does this, and it's not always easy to do of course either. But I hope this chapter in my blog inspires you to see the good out of any bad.

I find some very amazing and inspiring people in my life on a regular basis. It is amazing what unfolds when you really start to ask the Q's. That is what Real Life is.

Meet Melinda. She's as beautiful in the inside, as she is on the outside. As long as I have known her she's been such a fun spirit, a strong woman, and a fighter. She's a single mom who has put her son in a private school for the best education she can give him, and spends any free moment making memories with her only child, Aden. Not only has she accomplished being a wonderful mom she has also fought one of life's hardest battles that no one wants to ever learn to fight. Cancer. Here's her story.


"Oh geez. Weird, sometimes I think I'm over it. You know, when you're first diagnosed you're in a state of shock. Especially at the age of 32. But when I think about the moment my doctor said "It's a malignant tumor. A very aggressive cancer. You will have to go through Chemo and Radiation." I still break down. It was such a blow.

My cancer (awwww, like its my own) is called Ewing Sarcoma. Malignant Tumors.

So the first thing I do when someone talks about anything that I have little or no knowledge of, I "Google" it. With cancer I didn't. The last thing I wanted to do was scare myself more than I already was. I do know, you're born with it. It is aggressive, but highly treatable. and I do believe it is a blood cancer, so it can show up anywhere. One of the first things my Chemo Oncologist asked me was, "What do you know about your cancer?" My reply? "NOTHING". He told me, "that was good". There was nothing that I needed to know that he would not tell me. He also mentioned that there are a lot of things on the Internet that are not true. So never read about your disease or illness on the Internet. Ask your doctor.

I was diagnosed the first time June 26th, 2009 with a tumor in my left pelvic. It had actually started in my thigh bone and worked its way through my pelvic and was on its way into my left buttocks muscle.

The second diagnosis was Sept 15th 2010. I had a screaming migraine on August 29th. It lasted for 2 days, then a steady headache for about 2 weeks. I came home from work on a Friday night and within an hour my vision was double. The following Monday Sept 13th I went to the emergency room and it was a tumor, behind my right eye. It was putting so much pressure on the outside nerve it was causing paralization to my right eye. My eye was so turned-in you could barley see it. I wore a patch for 6 weeks just so I could see straight. Arg!

Ive learned to be thankful. Thankful that I had the best Oncologist ever. Thankful that I was able to get to my treatments when scheduled. Thankful that I have such a wonderful boss that told me he'd hire a temp, but to do what I had to do for myself and for Aden (my son) to get well. My relationship with my family is so much stronger now, after going through this as well.

{photo cred Dena Brender}

I haven't had any symptoms since I finished radiation at the end of October 2010. I actually have a PT Scan scheduled for tomorrow morning (Tuesday February 8th), so we shall see. ;)

I think one of the main thing this has taught me, is that beauty IS only skin deep. Being a girl who was so concerned about her hair, makeup, eyebrows and eyelashes, and I wouldn't ever go out without being perfectly primped, and then losing it ALL was a very humbling experience! I wore wigs, and drew my eyebrows on and wore fake eyelashes or just applied heavy eyeliner and no one could tell. But stepping out of the shower with my head so bald it was shiny and NO eyebrows or eyelashes, was definitely a shock. Knock on wood its all back now, and hopefully this time, it's here to stay."

{Thank you Melinda, for being an inspiration and a fighter. You rock girlfriend!}