Sunday Morning and I just saw off some friends leaving back for UT. They had come down for the silent auction/going away party Thursday night. Thursday was a lot of fun! A ton of people came out to support me...we were able to raise from donations and auction items over $6,000!!!! CRAZY!...but alas...now's crunch time. Today will consist of some more sleep (at least an hour...I still am recovering not only from this past week but from a cold) church, packing items together from the silent auction...and lastly; packing my stuff for tomorrow. Yep, that's right, I leave tomorrow morning.  As Rosa would say, "It's already time chico!" I plan to sleep my way across the atlantic.

Here's a pic of me and the ladies...Reason #248: We're classy...

I'm still trying to find more photos...but they may be lost in cyber space forever...

So everything started about three years ago, but it wasn’t until April of this year that I was actually diagnosed with Alvolar soft part Sarcoma. At first I thought that the bump (I call it a bump and not a lump because at that moment it was under the muscle…so it was a bump in the muscle I felt) was only a knot in my muscle. I am very active and had done a cartwheel or a kick etc and just thought that I had pulled the muscle.

 

In September of ’06 I left for northern Germany to serve a two year mission for my church. The bump grew slowly into a lump, but I still didn’t pay any attention to it; obviously occupying my time with learning German and sharing my beliefs. Towards the end of the two years I realized that the lump was a little larger than a golf-ball.

 

I got home in October of ’08 and had no insurance. I had to start school before I would be able to be added onto my dad’s PPO. I started school in January (and work as well) and finally got added to his insurance about March (the school needed real proof that I was actually attending school). I went in a couple times for an Ultra-sound followed by an Ultra-sound guided core biopsy of the lump (I had named it Hector…). It was Friday April 17^th when I got a call while at work that the doctor needed to see me immediately. I knew the lump was more than just “big”. I went in and alone got the news that “Hector” was in fact a malignant tumor. My doctor had to look up some information for me on Wikipedia. He had never heard of it due to its rarity. May 11^th I went in for surgery and had the tumor removed. It turns out that it was 7cm by 6.5cm by 6.5 cm…basically a tennis ball. The surgery went amazingly well. They had a negative margin around the whole tumor. They kicked me out of the hospital the next day saying that I was looking too good to be in the hospital. Luckily I’ve always enjoyed hospitals…odd I know. Anyways, I got home, and a month later I was dancing the Paso doble for a college class I had taken with a good friend. A real miracle.

 

Unfortunately the cancer has already spread to my lungs. I have thirty metastasis that need to be dealt with. Due to its rarity there are no chemos that have proven effective which left surgery as the only real option. Because of the sheer quantity of metastasis no surgeon here in the US will do surgery on me because the surgery done here takes away too much good lung tissue in the process of removing the mets. There is a doctor over in Germany that is known specifically for his surgery done with lasers. His method not only removes the mets leaving most good lung tissue, but also provides quick recovery. This surgery however, is not covered by insurance and may only be reimbursed 60%...total surgery cost…$32,000. This price also does not include the airfare, hotel, and the bills from past appointments. Right now we have been able to raise almost $9,000 from garage sales, bake sales, silent auctions, and private donations form friends and family.

 

It’s a long story…but that’s the abbreviated version !