A Childhood Cancer Survivor Blogging about the World of Childhood Cancer

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My Mom

Happy Mom’s Day!!!!!!!!! Wanna know how much I love my mom? TTTTTTTHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSS MMMMMMMMMMUUUUUUUCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But really, without her, I would have died like…..three times already. Love you SO much Mom!
From Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery: 

     Also at this time, I began to suffer extremely emotionally.  No one believed I was sick, and they claimed, “You look fine.” 

     It was wishful thinking.  I was told that I needed to eat burgers and drink shakes to feel better, and I grew very angry that few trusted me.  I was in my body and they were not; it was as simple as that.  However, my mom remained my support, and she and I continued to get closer, as our deep understanding of each other grew.  Our spirits and souls began to intertwine, like two ivy branches wrapping and twisting around each other… becoming one.

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Reason For Celebration!

If you could have just one thing in life, what would you wish for?

I would wish for my life!

Two years ago today, I finished my cancer treatments… yes, the year that followed treatments was even more difficult than during, but what a celebration to be done with treatment!  When I got home late this afternoon from Relay for Life book signing this morning, then rehearsing all day with NHS Dance Company, I found pink balloons in my room.  It was mom’s way of saying, “I love you… it’s a special day!”

I think I will gather stories from other survivors, and ask them what they did to celebrate their end of treatment.  Maybe they taped pink balloons and sticky stars to their heads and danced to “Funky Town?”  Maybe they wore Mickey gloves, or maybe they carried  a huge monkey donning a chef’s hat, apron, and a  basket of cookies. 

Or maybe that’s just me.

I know for sure that I am unbelievably grateful to be here.

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Thank You Note From The White House

I am deeply honored this evening.  I received a thank you note from our President Obama, and his wife, Mrs. Obama.  I believe this means they received the first edition of Grace that I sent to them last December.  I love knowing they received it, and I love their lovely good manners:)  The note is special to me, and I will save it. 

It is interesting to me that things like this happen, and they inspire me to be a better person.  I am thinking of our President, and what he needs most from us, as citizens.  We can be the best citizens by being the very best person we can be.  That “best person” is different for everyone.  I guess that we just look for what we have in ourselves to pass on and bless others. 

Why is it that blessing others is the greatest blessing we can receive?

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A Girl Named Breanna

I am thinking a lot about a girl named Breanna.  She is the same age I was when I got sick, and she is fighting cancer right now.  I remember how a girl named Rachel came to see me at the clinic after my first round of chemo.  She had battled Hodgkin lymphoma a year before I did, and she looked healthy and happy… and she gave me hope.  That was where I was headed– right where Rachel was. 

You can imagine the mix of emotions inside me.  It makes me “sick” that Breanna is sick and suffering, and it makes me want to do all I can to stop cancer.  Also, it makes me want to give Breanna hope.

A friend gave Breanna my book and introduced us by email. 

 We have sent a few cards to each other, and I even have a picture of Breanna with her very own therapy dog:)   Breanna told me that she likes when her mom reads her my book because, “It reminds me of me.”  My mom cried when she read this… it means so much to her that my story helps children with cancer.  She has a special place in her heart for children with cancer. 

By God’s Grace, I am now the encourager.  And the cycle of love comes full circle.  I feel humble, and blessed, and greatly responsible to pass on the grace that saved my life. 

Please send prayers to the heavens for complete healing for Breanna…

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Final Approval for ARCs to go to Press

I am glad that my mom handles the loads of paperwork for our publishing company!  Yikes!  There have been so many finalizing papers, and I admit that I enjoyed putting my signature on two of the agreements.  Who would have ever guessed a year ago, when I was scribbling words in spiral binders, that I would be signing print riders and excitedly awaiting ARCs for Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery in just a few weeks. 

Besides book excitement, dance is awesome this time of the year.  Performances are coming up on Friday and Saturday, May 21 and May 22 at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande for the Nipomo High School Dance Company.  This show will be so much fun for me– I am dancing in 12 dances!  The finale will be so cool… Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” 🙂  Sewing sequined neck adornments for our costumes today too.  And on the 23rd of May, I will perform with San Luis Jazz at the Spanos Theater. 

And then there is lots and lots to take care of right now in school.  I am preparing for my A.P. Biology final tomorrow, and next week, I will take the end of the year special A.P. tests for World History and Biology.  In Spanish II, my homework today was to write a letter (in Spanish) and burn the edges of my paper with a flame to make it look like it was written when Cinco de Mayo took place.  All I can say is that it is always a good thing to burn first and write second!

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Alexa Nawrocki Pediatric Cancer Foundation

I have to tell you about an incredibly lovely lady I met on the path of my book endorsement requests.  Her name is Joann, and she lost her two year old daughter, Alexa, to cancer in 2004.  What a beautiful thing she did with her grief.  She created the Alexa Nawrocki Pediatric Cancer Foundation to help other children suffering with cancer and their families.  This inspires me.  This inspires me greatly. 

It seems that none of us escape this world without being battered and bruised along the way.  When someone, like Joann, take their wounds and scars and create a better place for us all to live in, it is remarkable!  This is exactly what I aspire to do.  Joann sees that through all of her efforts, her precious daughter’s light shines so brightly. 

Just think if we all took our life’s “rotten apples” and turned them into a brilliant, fruitful tree of life… wow… what a world we could make!

Thank you Joann.  And Alexa… I love those beautiful angel wings of yours.

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ARC Cover Copy for Grace is Here!

Raising baby Grace has entered a beautiful new phase.  She has a cover!  Right here and now I want to thank Sheila at Greenleaf for her awesome design!  I will admit to all of you that when I first saw this cover option, I laughed right out loud.  It is so me.  Now that could be good for some, hmm… hopefully all!  And I hope it will make you giggle a bit too:)

And guess what else arrived today?  ARC pdf… and I haven’t even checked it out yet!

I scurried straight from school today to the DMV to get my driver’s permit.  I passed my written test (I admit I had to study for so many tests last night that my driver permit test took the lowest priority!) and I am off to dance now, rehearsing for our San Luis Jazz show in May. 

Can’t wait to get home to see the Advance Reader Copy of Grace !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Finalizing Endorsements and ARCs Soon

For all of you seasoned authors out there, you guys have this all down…  I am still recovering from the startling fact that a book needs to be raised after you are finished writing it.  But, believe it or not, I have emerged unscathed and actually quite perky from the endorsement phase of book raising.  I am very, very happy that we were able to finalize the paperwork for “The Cheese!” and this endorsement will be on the cover of the ARC for Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery, along with Jeff Foxworthy’s very kind and thoughtful quote. 

I appreciate the doctors who took the time to read what I sent, the cancer foundations who responded with positive encouragement, the celebrities who surprised me with their warmth, and each and every person who supported my project with an endorsement!  It was such a successful endorsement campaign that I have been forewarned of “Endorsement Fatigue.”  I guess that this refers to readers inability to cope with reading endorsement after endorsement.  My thought is that it is better to gather too many and pick the ones we like best.  Promise I won’t “fatigue you!”

There are a few more “floaters” out there that I would love to bring in.  Hmmm… calling all floating endorsements!  Front and center, please !

And then come ARCs!  The end of May… the end of May. 

This is fun.  Yes, this is really fun!

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Church for Life, Greenleaf Book Group, and Great America Dance Performance

Hi, hi, hi!

I have been just a little tiny bit busy:)  On Saturday, I traveled to Santa Clara, to perform with San Luis Jazz at Great America.  I had never been there before, and it reminded me of Disneyland without the characters.  I love performing, and I love the dancers who I perform with, so it was a great day!

And the weekend continued to get even better when I had the opportunity to share what God has done in my life at Church for Life in Santa Maria.  I still feel filled with bunches of God’s love.  Don’t you just love that?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And today… today…  my mom got an awesome phone call from Greenleaf.  My book, Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery  will now be distributed by Greenleaf Book Group.  It’s kind of like when you expect a normal hotel room, and you get upgraded to The Penthouse!  I am excited, excited, excited!!!!!!!!!!

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“The Cheese” Endorsement, Relay for Life, and Johnny Tan

Hi!!!!!  Have you wondered where the heck I have been?  Guess where?  The first ten guesses don’t count!  This may surprise you, but I have been dancing and dancing and dancing… jamming my homework in between rehearsals and performances. 

Today, a very exciting email arrived from the kind manager of “The Cheese.”  He asked me to call him, and he told me that he has “The Cheese’s” quote for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Unfortunately, when I returned his call after school, he had already gone home for the day– New York time.  I guess I have something to look forward to tomorrow!

Last week, Deb Jeffers from the American Cancer Society called to ask if my mom and I would speak at the Luminary Ceremony at Nipomo’s Relay for Life on May 1.  Mom had plans to go out of town that weekend, to meet up with some high school friends, but we both feel the strong desire to give thanks for my life… and what better way than sharing hope with others who have suffered through cancer, or who have helped loved ones through treatment and recovery.  We will be speaking at 8:00, on May 1st, at the Nipomo Relay for Life.

Over the weekend, I received an email reply  from Johnny Tan.  He has had an amazing life, and I can’t to read his book, From My Mama’s Kitchen.  From what I know, his book is about his mothers (8 of them I believe,) and how they each influenced his life.  He has a talk radio show, FMMK, and I will be joining him for an interview on June 29th, at 10:00 am, Central time.  After learning about him on his website www.frommymamaskitchen.com, I told him that I am going to begin working on getting my very own radio show– so I can interview Johnny!  Lance too!

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