Yes. You read right. I'm finally tumor free for the first time in eleven years. That day was indeed one of the best days of my life. I was on cloud nine. I could NOT believe it. I could NOT hold back tears. Those tears symbolized all those years of struggle.. all those times i felt frustrated.. all those times i felt hope was lost.. all those times i wondered why me.. all those times my parents held my hand and cried when i went into the operation room.. all those times chemotherapy was instilled in my port.. all those times i had to give up in order to receive radiation treatments.. all those trips to the hospital.. all the feelings i felt........

 ALL THIS and THAT lay in my teardrops that silently fell down my cheeks. I'm tumor free. FINALLY.

I'm sitting here.. wondering how I will ever put how i feel into words. I have come to the realization that i cant. and i never will. however, i can share my story with you all. there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. i'm here to tell you people who are fighting desmoid tumors and feeling all hope is lost.. dont ever give up hope and no matter how hard it is- always look up with a smile. life is indeed too short to be anything but happy. that's definitely one thing i learned from this journey. i know i was given this tough obstacle because i was strong enough to overcome it. i am strong enough.. and i will always be strong enough.

I mentioned this before in my previous blog but i'm going to repeat it- i know i will always deal with this for the rest of my life. i may be tumor free now but i still deal with the pain shooting up my leg every single morning. i still deal with the fear of the tumors coming back. i still feel my leg regularly with hopes of not finding a bump.. the tumors may come back.. they may not.. but there is not much i can do about it except be positive.

I also learned that after finding out i was tumor free, i felt i wanted to give back more than ever. before, i was too focused on me, myself, my feelings, my battle, my frustrations, my journey... but now i find myself wanting to give back to the research, to help others and helping myself in the process. so, i decided to start a booster campaign and i was able to give a lot of money to the foundation research. im not done here. i want to run the 5k in philadelphia this fall. i want to do MORE. i want to make a DIFFERENCE.

I know most if not all of you wont understand this since I'm deaf and I communicate in American Sign Language. The transcript of what i said is below-

glimpse of my story- read below. I don't want to see other people go through what I went through. No my tumors haven't come back and I hope they never will. Thank you for your continuous support. ILY

(by saying read below, I typed this on other social media- instagram)

Desmoid tumors are tumors that arise from cells called fibroblasts and among one of the rarest tumors in the world. When fibroblast cells undergo mutations they can become cancerous and become desmoid tumors. They can be life threatening when they compress vital organs. They also play a critical role in wound healing. After I recovered from my broken leg, the tumors continued to grow thinking it was fixing my leg when it was already fixed.
My tumors were located in my left leg and I have went through countless of X-RAYS, MRIs, CT scans, bone scans, surgeries, rounds of chemo, and radiation treatments. Last dec, for the first time in eleven years- the scans finally showed no growth. I am a part of a forum for people suffering from Desmoid Tumors. Everyday, I read about their stories, their struggles, their battles, their sufferings, their frustrations, and most of all their fear.
I have accepted I will be dealing with this for the rest of my life because even if I am tumor free now, there will always be a possibility of them growing back. Nobody deserves to go through what i went through and nobody deserves to go through what people diagnosed with desmoid tumors go through. We dont know what will work... surgery? radiation? many many kinds of chemotherapy? and the uncertainty continues to unfold... until a cure is found.
I truly want to play a part in helping the researchers find a cure. At first, I thought id inform some people that they could help me support the research by ordering a shirt but I have been overwhelmed by the amount of people who also want to help- you guys are beyond amazing. and everyday i find myself feeling lucky to have such amazing people in my life. you guys are the reason why im standing as strong as i feel today.
all of the proceedings will go to the desmoid tumor research foundation. last but not least, TOUGH TIMES TRULY DO NOT LAST, TOUGH PEOPLE DO :)
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and I don't want to stop here. I won't stop here. until, together, we find a cure.