I wasn't the only one that was affected, however. My family also suffered, particularly my mother; who had a very difficult time handling the stress of the situation. She had sleepless nights, constantly thinking about me and my future. Being a dietician, my mom was constantly worrying about my nutritional health. I lost a lot of weight and I could hardly ever eat. My mom helped me by encouraging me to drink nutritional supplements. Without that encouragement, I would have lost a significant amount of weight.The aches and pains I got from chemo were unbearable at times. To help with my pain my mother arranged private yoga lessons for me and also sent me to the spa for massages. Losing my hair was also one of the most difficult things about my treatment. My mother set up a day that I could go to the salon and get my head shaved. She had my hairdresser take me into a private room so I wouldn't be uncomfortable getting my head shaved in front of others. Even though things were hard, my mom always stayed strong. She always told me to stay positive and pray even when I was discouraged.

My father and brother were also a great support to me. My dad cut back on his working hours so he could stay home and take care of me. He drove me to the hospital every week for chemo and sat with me for hours. My brother always kept me in high spirits. He made me laugh when I was sad and always joked with me.

I've learned to take this experience and turn it into something that I can learn from and use to help others. In October of 2008 we hosted a fundraising event for the Oncology Department of Children's Hospital Central California. With the help of the local community and the Persian American Cancer Institute we managed to raise over $15,000. My illness inspired the rest of my family as well. My brother changed his major to cell biology and is currently doing cancer research. My family also wants to continue raising money for cancer research.

Currently, I am doing much better. I'm in maintenance, and the life of my family and I is almost back to normal. I'm currently taking online classes and will be returning to Willow International in the Summer.

My long term goal is to have a career that is involved with helping oncology patients in some way. It is because of the generous donations going to cancer research each year and the support of my family that I'm able to tell my story.