Michele’s Story
Michele wrote this on October 31, 2014 & she passed away on September 28, 2016
“Last year was the hardest year of my entire life. I was diagnosed with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma in my left forearm the first day of the Vibes 2013 at age 20. That is a day that I will never forget for the rest of my life. I then had to freeze my eggs and have them extracted because there was a chance that chemotherapy can cause infertility. I had a surgery to place a port under my skin which would be where the chemo would be given through. I started three chemos the day I had my eggs extracted in August right after my 21st birthday and right before the start of my senior year at UConn Stamford. I had chemo for 10 months with 6 weeks of radiation during those 10 months. I stayed in school and kept up my 3.7 GPA. May 28th was my last chemo and I was then declared to be in remission and cancer free. My port was removed and my summer was filled with a huge celebration of the battle I won.
About a month ago I had my three month scans and two spots on each of my lungs came up on the Chest CT. I then, two weeks ago, had to have a thoracotomy on my right lung to have one or both of the spots removed and when I woke up from this major surgery I was told that the spots they saw were tumors and that the cancer had spread to my lungs. This calls for 8 more months of chemo with 6 weeks of radiation during those months. I had surgery yesterday to put my port back in and I start three chemos next Thursday with an overnight at Yale. I have one more semester left at UConn and then I will finally graduate in May and this will not stop me from reaching that goal; I can promise you that.
My life was just getting back to normal and now I've been thrown back into the boxing ring to fight for my life. And I will do just that. Fight.
For all the people who love and care about me as well as myself so I can live a long and healthy life just like any normal 22 year old would want. I am determined now more than ever to beat this cancer's ass and I will not let it take away my determination or my motivation.
I want to inspire anyone I can so that they learn that no matter what happens to you, you have to fight. No matter how many times you get kicked down, you have to get back up and persevere. If I can do it, you can do it.
Even though these next 8 months will be a rough road and the chemo will tear my body down physically, cancer will not take away from me emotionally, spiritually, or mentally. Yes, I have cancer; but cancer doesn't have me.
#TeamM #FuckCancer #LiveForever”
