I lived in denial for almost 2 yrs that something was really wrong. I had a lump in my neck the size of a golf ball, but still I denied what I knew was so obvious to others…I was a 33 yr old mother of 4 who didn’t have time to be sick, but one night after an outing with friends which I could rarely get, I passed out and was taken to the emergency room.

Blood test were ran, x-ray were taken and still no one knew what was going on, the doctor commented on the lump in my neck and ordered a biopsy first thing monday morning. That was the longest weekend of my life. Monday morning dawned and all I was able to do was pray, although I really didn’t know what to pray for, I still continued to pray all the way until I was put under anesthesia I was out for several hours, so the doctor had to wait until tuesday to come and see me.

I was officially diagnosed on feb 6th 2006, with 3rd stage t-cell non-hodgkins lymphoma, everything after that sortof blurred, I was taken to surgery to harvest healthy bone marrow, then stayed in the hospital for another weak, diagnosed with 2 kinds of anemia low potassium and a host of other stuff, I started chemo the end of march and was the youngest person in the center to come in for chemo…fast forward 2 1/2 years and here I am to tell the story. I am a healthy 36 yr old, who didn’t give up, and while this may not be a lifetime movie network worthy story; it is mine and I will tell it to whoever needs it, to encourage them to never give up, because I truly believe you can heal yourself with positive thoughts and prayers.