Always Have Hope

A year in review…

April 27, 2016 marks a year to date since my life and my husband’s life completely turned upside down. On this day last year, I underwent my first of two surgeries to treat what was later diagnosed as stage III uterine and stage I ovarian cancer (at the young age of 32). In June of 2015, I had a “completion surgery” which removed my reproductive tract. By July 2015, I had just started 28 consecutive cycles of radiation treatment and had my first 2 rounds of chemotherapy. After about a month break, to help heal my body, I started another 4 rounds of aggressive chemotherapy treatments. My treatment plan was completed by early December; however, due to phlebitis and abdominal complications I was hospitalized for several days and released on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Prior to my diagnosis, John and I were engaged and had already set our wedding date for November 13, 2015. Through my treatment, I continued to plan our wedding with the help of our families. Throughout this journey, John has been with me every step of the way. He made it a point to be at every major doctor appointment and chemotherapy treatment. Many times he drove down to Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City to meet with my doctors. I must say, he never once left my side. He camped out on sleeper chairs next to me during my hospital stays and never complained. Having gone through this experience together truly solidified our relationship. It helped us to realize not to take life for granted and focus on the aspects of our lives that make us happy.

Along with all of the medical issues that I have been faced with, there are emotional struggles; specifically, facing infertility as a direct result of my cancer. Every day brings a different challenge, however, we were always determined to stay positive and celebrate having “my life” to share together. I always said to John that it is much easier to be negative than it is to be positive. We decided together that we didn’t have a choice and we were striving to have a positive outlook from this experience.

If you know me, it’s not surprising that my dream was to always bear children. As a teacher, I work with kids constantly and have been asked, “Where do you get the patience?” and I have simply replied: “I just do”. We have strong bonds with our friend’s children and they all bring so much joy into our lives. We are so lucky to spend quality time with our niece and nephew and love them both so much. We have an incredible amount of love to give to our own children someday.

As a woman, I want nothing more than to be a mother and have a family with John. Unfortunately, my dream for us to have our own children has been completely demolished. The best way that I can describe this hurt is by stating that I am “mourning the death” of not being able to bear my own children. It is devastating to us and we are slowly learning to cope with this loss.

Presently, our main focus is on restoring my health. I am now being closely monitored by a prestige team of doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City to prevent any reoccurrence.

All I want is to live a happy and healthy life with John and our future family…and that will happen! John and I have been saving for a home and have discussed our options to start a family. Whether a family is accomplished through surrogacy or adoption we would like to start this process. However, it has been taking longer than expected since I have been out of work for over a year.

John and I are graciously asking for financial support from our family and friends to help our dream of becoming a family come true. There are no words to describe how thankful we would be for your contribution to our cause, “Always Have Hope”. We have so much love to give and want a family more than anything else in this world.

Please feel free to mail contributions to the following address:

2253 Mark Road

Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

or contribute online using your credit card.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.