Team Vicki

My name is Vicki Christensen.   I was 27 when I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma.   It was 2013 I had just lost my step dad to lung cancer and was devastated.  I was experiencing fatigue and kept getting sick. I just thought I was depressed from my recent loss. I also had a bump on my tongue for quite a while that was extremely painful and I thought had become infected.  I looked up my symptoms and almost fainted when everything said I probably have cancer.  I have never smoked or had an alcohol problem.  I am too young for this disease!  I went to the dentist had a biopsy and my nightmare was confirmed.  All I could think of were all the things I would not get to do.. there was no way i was going down without a fight! I have been fighting ever since. I've had a partial glossectomy (they cut off part of my tongue), 3 neck dissections, radiation (regular and internal surgical)to the point of permanent tissue loss, countless rounds of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and even clinical trials. All that being said I am going to continue to fight and never give up. I am still actively in treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC for stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma and there is no cure for my disease.