Hello! I'm a two-time cancer survivor and am happy to have found a network of other survivors because instead of just admiration or sympathy, we can give each other understanding.

Cancer took up several chapters of my childhood and hence rewrote the rest of my life. I like to think that the revision was for the better - a deeper, stronger character, a positive perspective on life, and a confidence that I could do anything. But some revisions were for the worse, such as with physical side effects I will face throughout the rest of my life. But I try to take them in stride - feeling grateful to be alive. That's what I remind myself, at least, and usually feel guilty for ever complaining.

And that's how cancer defines me. It shaped me-physically, emotionally, even spiritually. And while it's not the title of my life, it continues to weave its way through my story in ways I never could have imagined. It has either directly propelled me or somehow accompanied me on every path throughout my life, for which I'm grateful because I like the way my life has turned out thus far. ;)

I wrote a children's book about my experiences and won first in the national reflections contest, I started doing public speaking at age 8 and found it to be a passion of mine, which placed me on the path to my communications degree, my TV internship, and my current employment in the audiovisual industry. I was in college plays, served as a college Student Body President, and worked my way through school at a garden nursery center because horticulture is another passion of mine. I served on the state board of a grass-roots decency organization, and I continue to study sign language because I love it. I currently live in a beautiful little valley nestled in the Rocky Mountains and my favorite thing to do is swing in my hammock out back and soak in the scene of a little lake just across the field.

Life is lovely.