Just a girl with a broken pancreas, now also fighting cancer, who sprinkles love and inspiration around.
Oh, and also champion of the underdog!
I am more than the things that have happened to me. But I have particular depth in what it’s like to live with Type 1 diabetes – an autoimmune condition that hit me when I was a teenager. I’ve been living with it now for 33 years and there is no cure (yet!). I work hard at it and have amazing tools that help me perform the function of a pancreas every day, and if I didn’t tell you I had diabetes, you would maybe never know (unless you noticed my various ‘robot parts’).
My most recent battle is with cancer – specifically metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma. I didn’t see this one coming and it hit me like a freight train in December 2021. I’ve had 2 surgeries so far and more treatment coming up, but the goal is to be a cancer survivor no matter what it takes.
Why write a blog?
Given my most recent diagnosis, my mortality has been brought sharply into focus and the only way I can find peace is by sharing what I’ve learned.
It’s also a way of sharing what this cancer experience has been like without having to re-live it every time someone asks me “How are you?” This hasn’t been easy, and it’s horribly awkward so I figured I’d put pen to paper and let it flow. My hope is that it can help somebody else who may be facing the same situation, and for others to understand a little more about what it’s like and how they can be supportive.