My name is Krista. After earning my teaching certification, I went on to become a pre-school teacher. I loved teaching because I know how important pre-school education is to the development of children. In 2010, my son was only 1 ½ years old when I was forced to retire due to being diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. It started as a lump in my right breast and spread to my spinal cord, liver and right femur. I immediately underwent kyphoplasty surgery to my spine. This was followed by additional surgeries including a procedure to my femur and eventually, a repair of my initial kyphoplasty. I began chemotherapy in November 2010 and I’ve received chemo intermittently since.
Most recently, in 2017, I had a seizure caused by what doctors discovered to be a massive tumor that spread to my ocular vein. I thought I was going to die. After surgery, I couldn’t talk and I could barely move. Two weeks later, I started talking, walking, and was able to move again. After two months of rehabilitation, I’m back to where I was prior to brain surgery.
For 10 years, I’ve been fighting. I fight for my now 9 year old son, Ethan, and for my husband, Andrew who takes care of me and is my rock. I am inspired by my family and by my faith in God. My son pushes me every day to keep going because I want to spend time with him. Three words that resonate with me are hope, faith, and gratitude. I have hope and faith that everything will get better. I have so much gratitude for my family and all of the people that have been through this with me and perseverance to keep fighting.