My Story

Being the first born generation born in the US to a single immigrant mother I knew the value of hard work, strength, dedication and putting your soul into everything you do from a very young age. At birth I was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Phenylketonuria (PKU) that inhibits the body's ability to break down complex amino acids on its own (protein), restricting my diet to 5 grams of protein a day for life as there is still no cure. PKU is a rare metabolic genetic disorder, 1 in every 10,000- 20,000 people are diagnosed per year in the US alone. Individuals with undetected or untreated PKU can face serious irreversible outcomes including mental retardation, developmental delays, seizures, failure to meet growth benchmarks in children, brain fog, ADD, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and brain damage. Such outcomes and the immense responsibility to prevent them can be overwhelming for individuals with PKU and also their parents/support people. I learned the power of “ NO” and having enormous amounts of self control, discipline, and boundaries from as early as preschool age. The risks associated with poor dietary adherence is what prompted my mother to educate me on how to fiercely advocate for myself from a very young age. Throughout these endeavors despite the isolating nature of living with a rare metabolic disorder, my family never allowed PKU to hinder my abilities and strived to ensure that my life would be as normal as possible. Living with PKU has naturally come with many obstacles to overcome, but I refuse to let these hurdles stop me from living a very fun and fulfilling life.

PKU was never easy but nothing could have prepared me for what I was to face in my early twenties. On April 6th, 2021 I was on a run in Malibu Topanga Canyon where I was struck by a vehicle speeding through a parking lot at 45 mph. My head went through the windshield of the car, my body flipped over the car 3 times and bystanders thought I was dead on impact. I walked away from that accident with a traumatic brain injury, 4 staples in the back of my head and some findings that revealed the true meaning behind the whole accident. An MRI uncovered a grapefruit size mass in my mediastinum that was attached to my aortic valve. After seeing 3 oncologists in a span of three months, I was dismissed with “come back in three months” and my absolute favorite “not enough diagnostic evidence”. I was told I was perfectly fine but I knew all of them were missing something and deeply felt as though I didn't have the time to waste in being dismissed even one more day. After a week-long stay in the hospital UCLA, I got the call from my oncologist that I was being diagnosed with stage 2-3 Large Diffuse B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in my mediastinum… my deep knowing that something was not right, and refusal to not take no for an answer had just saved my life.

I underwent 5 long months of REPOCH chemotherapy and 30 days of proton radiation. This extremely aggressive chemo regimens came with the following issues; blood clot, early onset menopausal symptoms, anemia, neuropathy, multiple episodes of septic shock, dysphasia, nausea and vomiting, vocal cord paralysis, ineffective esophageal motility disorder, covid while I was severely immunocompromised, severe tachycardia, shortness of breath, unmanaged PKU symptoms, and the inevitable toll that cancer takes on your mental health. On April 24th, 2022 my doctor called and gave me the best news I will ever hear in my life. I was done fighting cancer, NED (no evidence of disease) and could finally start to move forward and build my life again.

Now, being over 1 year cancer free, I am rebuilding a new and better version of my life. Through very powerful prayer, strength, ruthless self advocacy skills, mind-body connection and the ability to work WITH my doctors in navigating my care- I am able to tell you this story today and why I am so deeply passionate about this work.