- K
- J
My name is Dana and I am an interpreter for the Deaf. That is the biggest part of my identity and I have been one for 24 years. I am a passionate, loyal, adventurous, nature loving person. My father worked for the airlines and I was lucky to grow up on airplanes.
Everyone loves to think they are "One-in-a-Million," well... I guess I am truly 1 in a million. I was diagnosed 2 weeks ago with a very rare and aggressive cancer called Desmoplastic Melanoma, it hits one person out of every million. It is so rare, I don't even have a ribbon or a support group. It is a cancer that has "tentacles" and reminds me of some kind of horror movie alien creature, It is very aggressive. It is so rare that they are fast tracking me to surgery right away. My surgery is this Friday, November 20th at 7:00 am. On Thursday, they will be injecting me with a dye that will color the cancer itself and the dye will also travel up to my lymph nodes to see how far it has spread. They will be taking a 4 inch strip of skin and very deep tissue right at my elbow crease, into the forearm and upper arm which will be as if a shark bit into my arm and tore the flesh away. As I mentioned before, interpreting is my life. I have always had at least 2 jobs. The surgeon knows that the use of my arms are tantmount to what I love the most. For me to be able to move my arm again, they will be cutting a skin graft from my leg (4 by 2 inch strip) and putting it on my arm. Then, they will also cut into my armpit, taking 4 to 5 lymph nodes that have been colored by the dye. Then they will send it of to be analyzed. My hope is to work again but right now, I will be grateful to just survive this.
The key, and hope, is that it hasn't hit my lymph nodes. If it has, well...not good. This whole thing has just knocked me completely down. Many of the "why me's" and "what if's" to "I am sure I will be ok" has been reeling in my head. As if this all wasn't bad enough, I haven't even come close to hitting my deductible. They are requiring me to pay a huge chunk of money before my surgery this Friday. The money I am raising is the money I need for Friday. I just found this out recently. If you know me, you would know that I am NOT the kind of person who will ever ask for money. It pains me to do so. I will be off work for at least 2-3 week so I am losing income that would help me pay for this. Hopefully this surgery will be all that I have to have. If not, then I will be facing Chemotherapy, Radiation, or some other type of therapy. Whew... it was very hard to type those words so let's hope they get this.
It would mean the world to me if you could even donate a dollar. Anything is appreciated. I am not ready for my life to be over. I feel that if I survive, I could help others who are going through this same thing.
If you pray, please pray for me, put me on prayer lists. If you aren't a praying person, please send light and love. Any positive thoughts you can send my way would be very appreciative. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
P.S. Do you know how hard it is to pick a photo for this type of thing? I don't look like I have cancer. I even have it in this photo that was taken 5 months ago. I just thought it was a weird spot on my arm. I had no idea what was about to happen to my life. This was when I was working temporarily as an interpreter in New Mexico. This place is called Bisti and is similar to the Petrified Forest in AZ only this is in New Mexico. I had a hard time finding a picture to post because I don't look "sick enough" and look happy. I am always smiling so it is hard to find a picture of me that isn't smiling. This place was really lonely, desolate and you can't find another place on earth like this. So I felt it was a good match for a "one in a million" type place and cancer.
Everyone loves to think they are "One-in-a-Million," well... I guess I am truly 1 in a million. I was diagnosed 2 weeks ago with a very rare and aggressive cancer called Desmoplastic Melanoma, it hits one person out of every million. It is so rare, I don't even have a ribbon or a support group. It is a cancer that has "tentacles" and reminds me of some kind of horror movie alien creature, It is very aggressive. It is so rare that they are fast tracking me to surgery right away. My surgery is this Friday, November 20th at 7:00 am. On Thursday, they will be injecting me with a dye that will color the cancer itself and the dye will also travel up to my lymph nodes to see how far it has spread. They will be taking a 4 inch strip of skin and very deep tissue right at my elbow crease, into the forearm and upper arm which will be as if a shark bit into my arm and tore the flesh away. As I mentioned before, interpreting is my life. I have always had at least 2 jobs. The surgeon knows that the use of my arms are tantmount to what I love the most. For me to be able to move my arm again, they will be cutting a skin graft from my leg (4 by 2 inch strip) and putting it on my arm. Then, they will also cut into my armpit, taking 4 to 5 lymph nodes that have been colored by the dye. Then they will send it of to be analyzed. My hope is to work again but right now, I will be grateful to just survive this.
The key, and hope, is that it hasn't hit my lymph nodes. If it has, well...not good. This whole thing has just knocked me completely down. Many of the "why me's" and "what if's" to "I am sure I will be ok" has been reeling in my head. As if this all wasn't bad enough, I haven't even come close to hitting my deductible. They are requiring me to pay a huge chunk of money before my surgery this Friday. The money I am raising is the money I need for Friday. I just found this out recently. If you know me, you would know that I am NOT the kind of person who will ever ask for money. It pains me to do so. I will be off work for at least 2-3 week so I am losing income that would help me pay for this. Hopefully this surgery will be all that I have to have. If not, then I will be facing Chemotherapy, Radiation, or some other type of therapy. Whew... it was very hard to type those words so let's hope they get this.
It would mean the world to me if you could even donate a dollar. Anything is appreciated. I am not ready for my life to be over. I feel that if I survive, I could help others who are going through this same thing.
If you pray, please pray for me, put me on prayer lists. If you aren't a praying person, please send light and love. Any positive thoughts you can send my way would be very appreciative. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
P.S. Do you know how hard it is to pick a photo for this type of thing? I don't look like I have cancer. I even have it in this photo that was taken 5 months ago. I just thought it was a weird spot on my arm. I had no idea what was about to happen to my life. This was when I was working temporarily as an interpreter in New Mexico. This place is called Bisti and is similar to the Petrified Forest in AZ only this is in New Mexico. I had a hard time finding a picture to post because I don't look "sick enough" and look happy. I am always smiling so it is hard to find a picture of me that isn't smiling. This place was really lonely, desolate and you can't find another place on earth like this. So I felt it was a good match for a "one in a million" type place and cancer.