Ania's Recovery Fund

Selfless.

It’s the first thought that comes to mind when thinking about my sister Ania.

There’s a lot that can be said about her by people that know her: incredibly kind person that always goes above and beyond, unmatched work ethic, constant discipline, unquestionable integrity.

But I see an older sister that was everything to me my whole life. A person that will not let herself have something unless her loved ones have it first. Someone who will help you without you having to ask for it, one you can always count on. Someone that never complains but sets goals and doesn’t let anything stop her from achieving them. Someone who constantly works to improve not only her life but the lives of everyone around her.

I see an incredibly smart and ambitious woman that I always turn to for advice. 37 year old who worked out everyday, ate healthy and barely ever caught a cold.

In the darkest moments, she’s the hardest rock. When I lost my husband 5 years ago to an overdose, she was my reason to keep going. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for her. She is a powerhouse of a woman that can quite literally single handedly keep one alive.

Today, the darkest moments are her own.

At 2 am on Tuesday, January 30th, we sat in an emergency room and heard words that were never even a remote possibility in our minds. It’s cancer. And it’s everywhere.

A month long journey that started on January 4th to find answers to Ania’s declining health brought us to diagnosis of breast cancer that spread to her lungs, liver, spine/bones, and ovary/fallopian tube. We spent the last week at Banner University Medical Center and we hope to start chemo soon.

We were left blindsided. Betrayed. Terrified. After initial disbelief, we ended in a place we know we cannot run away from. And it feels unfair. Unbelievable. Heartbreaking. Soul-crushing.

And when the dust settles, you start to wonder… how does one accept the diagnosis and don’t give up? How hard does one have to flight to save one’s own life? How does one witness the suffering of a loved one and doesn’t die from a heart break?

The truth is, the answers don’t matter. We will do whatever it takes to beat cancer. We can do hard things. We can fight harder than we have ever fought before.

There’s a long and hard road ahead of us. How long and hard one might ask? I don’t know, we’ve never done this before. All I know is that we have a lot of work to do and we will need a lot of help before we celebrate our victory.

But we will be victorious.