How my story begins: I was a "normal" 22 yr old girl attending college. My day included attending college classes, spending time with friends and family, and working as a lifeguard.

In September 2014, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. It was also the day that I was involved in a major car accident. If I would have left school a few minutes earlier or later, then I wouldn't have been going thru an intersection at the exact same time that the other driver decided to run a light and turn right into the driver side of my SUV. The impact of the car turning into me caused my SUV to roll three times. Thankfully, I was wearing my seat belt so my injuries were minor, a 3" gash above my eye (due to my head hitting the steering wheel) and a gash on the back of my head that required staples.

When emergency responders arrived at the accident, I was unconscious so they transported me to the hospital. Upon arrival, medical personnel noticed that my blood levels were low so they did a CT Scan, which revealed a large mass in my cervix as well as "spots" in my lungs. I was later notified that I had stage 4 cervical cancer. I was in complete shock, I wasn't experiencing any symptoms so I wasn't even aware that there was something wrong. I had a Pap smear less than 8 months prior to my diagnosis which came back clear.

My treatment: In preparation to begin chemo, I had a mediport install on October 7, 2014 and began Chemo on October 29, 2014. My chemotherapy cocktail included Avastin, Taxol and Cisplatin. After over a year of receiving Cisplatin, I became allergic to it and began Carboplatin. People ask me all the time, "how many more treatments do you have?" How do I respond when I have no idea how many more treatments its going to take to kill all the cancer? I can say for certain that as of July 2016, I have completed 28 chemotherapy treatments.

How I will try to help others: I hope that by sharing my story via social media that I can help other young adults that are newly diagnosed, going thru treatment or know of someone that has cancer know they are not alone.