Share Your MDS Story

There are moments in life that, quite literally, change you.  They take your breath away, cause you to take a hard look at your life, how you are living, and force you to make a choice- to allow the tough stuff to steal away your life and break you, or allow it to drive you to do more- to use that very challenging experience to shape you and your future.  That moment came for me in 2017, when my baby sister and my very best friend lost her fight to a rare form of pancreatic cancer at age 23.  While this devastated our family and caused me to question everything in life, it also forced me to look at the beauty in how my sister lived, even until her final days.  She kept hope alive and she kept living- inspiring everyone around her.  As I contemplated all the life she had been able to experience in her short 23 years, I began to realize that this was a pivotal moment in my life.  This was the moment I could choose to let her loss crush me, or I could use her life to inspire me- to motivate me to impact others- to spread hope in seemingly hopeless situations, and to shift the future from one of loss to one of life!

Knowing that I wanted to use my life to impact others, I became involved in non-profit work, and found such a fulfillment in knowing my days and hours were being utilized for good- to positively impact the life of another.  

When I found the MDS Foundation, I knew very little about this rare form of blood cancer, but what I did know was that my heart desired to support those that needed it, and that in the face of uncertain circumstances, anyone facing a rare form of cancer needed hope- for a brighter future, for a better outcome, for life.  

So, as I embraced my new role, I began to learn all I could about this rare form of blood cancer, and got to know the people whose lives have been directly impacted by MDS.  This only served to continue to fuel my passion for inspiring hope, and I embraced what it truly means to be a patient advocate.  I am your MDS patient advocate.  I am here for you.  I am here to support the foundation so that we can provide you with all the tools and support you need to be educated, empowered, and filled with hope as you embrace your MDS journey. 

I'll keep believing with you and fighting for you, because when we embrace hope, we shift the atmosphere around us, and that can, quite literally, change someone's life.