First Post Ever

I’ve never written a blog before, but this is my first post so I’m going to give it a try. 

My goal here is to write down the unfiltered thoughts of somebody who is currently fighting cancer. It’s not often people get to peek behind the curtain of what daily life is with somebody with cancer. I don’t mean to brag, but my situation is very niche and rare. I don’t have any of the visual identifiers of somebody that is currently fighting cancer. Most of the time I don’t even feel like I have cancer myself, but the reality is I do. 

I have brain cancer and have since June of last year. The specific kind of brain cancer I have is called synovial sarcoma which when any cancer is in your brain, it’s automatically dubbed stage IV. I was told immediately on my first visit to OHSU by my  previous oncologist team that I would be dead in a year without treatment, and 1-3 years with treatment. I was completely shell shocked. On top of that I was given a terrible prognosis back in January of this year that I had months to live, but here I am, and I am doing a lot better than I was then. I have refused to simply shuffle off this earth at the age of 30 and let this cancer reek havoc on my body. I have fought tooth and nail to get where I am today. Anyways, this first post is not intended to be a rant, but a telling of how it started for me, and a quick blurb on how its going today.

So my current cancer diagnosis is a recurrence I had from 2012. I had synovial sarcoma back then too, which was a tumor in my neck. If you don’t know, sarcoma is ultra rare in general, and even more so in the brain. No one knows where it comes from, I have my own theories, but alas here we are. I was told by my oncologist and Johns Hopkins that this cancer had a less than 10% chance of ever returning. and even lower chances after being in the clear for 10 years, but last year it decided to rear its ugly head and change my life again. On top of my brain being one of the battlefields, I also have a tumor in my lung and a fair share of kidney issues from the heavy amount of chemotherapy that I received in 2024. I also had a craniotomy last year before any treatment, and have had a good amount of radiation to my brain and my lung. Most people wouldn’t know these things though just by looking at me. Believe me when I say, I have tried a lot of alternative remedies as well. Anything from hyperbaric oxygen therapy, red light therapy, ketogenic diet, vitamin C infusions, and a vast array of supplementation for things that are considered to be effective at fighting cancer.

Regardless, every story is unique and no experience can be compared to another. We all go through our own different challenges in life. I just wanted to be bold and share mine. I will have much more to share down the road, stick with me!