Every person has a struggle. Some are private, some are public and for months I haven’t been able to decide how to even say it because if did, I think it would get real. Really real.

I remember reading long ago that by the time we turn 40 years old, 1 in 4 people would battle cancer in their lives and I never thought it would be me. Cancer is the scariest word I know… yet here I am. I am now my 1 in 4, at 43 years old and Metastatic Melanoma has tried to invade my personal space. What started off as a mole on my back that I’ve had my entire life, it decided to go rogue over the years and I’ve learned that so many things can cause these changes even when we have no idea it’s happening. Our lives changed when we learned of an internal spread throughout my body via an emergency room visit that turned into a hospital stay for a week. I saw reports on a piece of paper and I couldn’t stop shaking. Our family dynamic has shifted. I instantly had a bit of rage and a rush of mama bear spark within me because I had two girls to fight for. My love to live for and my legacy to not stop here.

It’s been a very strange journey of doctors appointments, consultations, chemo and pain medications, funky side effects, inability to be outdoors due to the heat and sun, job medical leave and just all together one huge ass life change. The good news is… it’s working, we are seeing progress from the medication and scans but it’s a day by day struggle and while my close circle of family and friends have been showing up in ways I couldn’t have imagined, as news creeps out and word gets around everyone asks, “What can we do? How can I help?” and I don’t even know how to respond. I’m not one who likes to be helped… I’ve always been the helper.

So I’ve decided that I wanted to share this with everyone because I’ve always found comfort in seeing a community pull together and support one another. As our lives got turned upside down we haven’t lost faith, but we have fallen on hard times. As the bills pile up and we try to hold fast to what is good, if you feel called to help support our family during this crazy time, we would be ever so grateful. We continue to try and find the good in every single day because all we can do is hold hands tightly, smile and laugh together while we ride out our storm to see the rainbow on the other side.