Hey girls,
So today's blog post is something much different than my usual posts about makeup, hair, or health food. Today I'm showing you another piece of my life, a much more personal part of my life that means so very much to me. My mom and I have been working on this video for quite sometime and we've finally finished it and finalized everything. Besides some problems with copyright issues, we're all set to show the world what we've been working on.
Where to begin. . . well my mom is a twin, her twin sister Sharlene is my Aunt and they've always been incredibly close, I mean they are twins! Sadly in 2006 my Aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was only 36 years old!! Way too young to have to deal with something so severe (getting this diagnosis at any age would be terrible!!) but for my aunt, I just felt so incredibly bad, and for my mom too. My Aunt is a fighter, she chose to fight and not to let this illness bring her down. She is incredibly strong willed and positive. I'm not quite sure how she managed to get through a lot of the things she did, but like my mom she is one of the strongest people I know.
My Aunt Shar (left) and my mom (right)
After 2 mastectomies and reconstructive surgery, my aunt had WON! She beat the cancer!! We were overjoyed and so relieved. Things seemed to be looking up, or so we thought :( A few months later we received terrible, gut wrenching news. My aunt's reconstruction had become infected and had to be removed. It was a complicated, horrendous thing that had happened. I wish I could go so in depth with all of the pain and ridiculousness that my Aunt went through, the struggles, the pain, the worry and fear, but I could write a novel explaining all of the bad things that have happend in both my Aunt and my moms lives, but I'd rather not let this post get too depressing..I'm already tearing up writing this much.
So my aunt went back and forth trying to become well again. Here, she had beaten cancer, the one word that had struck her so deeply, only to come out on the shitty end again...this surgery, that was suppose to heal her and make her well, had turned on her and left her in worse condition. It wasn't fair. She struggled and was left in tremendous pain and aguish, and had to live day to day with an open wound! Her body was rejecting any surgery that had occurred to try and fix the infection. Life is not fair sometimes. Things happen to people that shouldn't happen and people go through the most horrific things, yet their still alive, they still laugh and talk and smile, even through all of the pain, their still human. It's amazing how much one person can handle. I hope and pray for her and my mom and all of my family every single day. I pray for strength and the will to carry on, because I can imagine how hard those things can be each day when so much is going wrong.
My mom (left) and my aunt Sharlene (right)
Fast forward to now, today, the present. My Aunt is cancer free, thank God in heaven, but she is still infected. Her infection isn't healed and her body is not healthy like it should be. After all of the worry and fear, and prayers, my Aunt was finally given a recommendation to visit the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. We are overjoyed!! God really works in mysterious ways, but he has answered so many of our prayers. My Mom and I have been working on a video that would tell my Aunt's story. Here it is below. We had to create two versions of the video because youtube's copyright is a bitch these days, but facebook allowed me to upload the video with music. So I've given the link to the original video first, then the youtube version without music after. Please take the time to watch the video with music as well, because we worked hard on it and it deserve a view :)
Thankfully my aunt has the insurance to cover her doctor visit and medical bills, however, my mom is traveling with her to Minnesota ( we currently live in Wisconsin) and she is asking for donations to fund their stay while at Mayo Clinic ( they have to stay in Minnesota until my Aunt is well. Any donation will be forever appreciated.
Online Donations can be made here:
Donations can be mailed here:
Blackhawk Bank
2200 Cranston Rd.
(Darlene Rumery for Sharlene VanGalder Benefit Account)
Beloit, WI 53511
Thank you so so so so very much.
You have no idea how incredibly grateful we are for any help at all.
xoxo
V
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