A few weeks back, I took a trip to Buffalo for a couple of sessions.  This family was my second session, and it was a very meaningful one.  I went to high school with Krista and we were really good friends in ninth grade.  High school has a way of making some friendships come and go, so I didn’t really stay close to her though we were always friendly.  I do have many fond memories of her including a couple of sleepover birthday parties.  She now has a wonderful husband and three adorable kids.

Krista and Rich’s daughter, Natalie has her own story.  I asked Krista if it was okay if I shared the story, and I wanted her to put it in her own words–so she wrote this so that I could share it with everyone.

Natalie was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer called embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of the soft tissue.  Hers settled in her pelvic muscle, in august of 2008 at the young age of 21 months old. At the same time, we discovered we were pregnant with our 2nd baby and only about 6 weeks along. Natalie underwent 42 grueling weeks of chemotherapy, many blood draws/transfusions, 5 surgeries, and 17 radiation treatments. This spanned just under a year from August of 2008 until June of 2009. Ethan, her middle brother, was born healthy in march 2009, which was during natalie’s last few months of treatment. This was by far her lowest point and the sickest we had ever seen her. He was definitely an angel to us in such a dark time. Natalie has now been cancer free for just over 3 years; we thank God everyday for her health and how strong she has become at 5. She still gets scanned now every 6 months, and her next scan will be in January, just after her youngest brother turns 2. We just ask that everyone keeps her in your prayers as we continue on this long journey with childhood cancer.