Personal
On Febuary 3, 2005 Heidi was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, when she was 22 years old. Heidi passed through 42 weeks of treatment (14 chemotherapy treatments every three weeks.) She has been married to Daniel since 2001. She has two dogs, Bentley and Myla, and a cat June who she loves to death! In December of 2008 she was blessed to have a sweet baby boy, Henry. She loves to travel and spend time outdoors.
Educational
Heidi is a graduate from UNLV's Radiology program. She recieved her Registered Radiology Technologist License in 2006. She is currently studying Chiropractic Medicine and should graduate with her doctorate in 2011. She is excited to see where natural medicine takes her.
Achievements and Experiences
One of the best and most fulfilling experiences of Heidi's life was volunteering in Ecuadorian Orphanages for a semester in 2001, and again more recently in 2007. She also had the opportunity to volunteer with an organization that worked with the needy in Haiti. She has worked with a weimeraner rescue as well. She has been involved with Youth City Council and other Church and Civic volunteer programs. She received her Certified Nursing Assistant License at the age of 16, and has worked in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. She is also a First Responder and CPR certified. Some of her achievements include scholarly high honors, being a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Alpha Beta Gamma Honor Society. She is also an alumni of UNLV’s Student Technologist Association of Radiological Sciences.
Radiography
Heidi loves diagnostic Imaging. When she was a senior in high school she was able to take an internship at a local hospital, in their radiology department. It was then that she realized that she wanted to further her education in x-ray. She enjoys the pathology of medical imaging. Her favorite exam is the L-spine, followed by the C-spine. To her those exams produce some of the "prettiest" films you’ll ever see. She has been working in the medical field as an X-Ray Tech since 2004 and loves every minute of it.
Heidi's Cancer
Heidi was diagnosed with EWING'S SARCOMA PNET on February 3rd 2005. Her cancer started as a small “spider bite” sized lump on her lower back that grew into a baseball-sized tumor. She is very lucky and found the cancer early. She was labeled as stage one, which means that her cancer was localized, and that she has a very good chance of recovery. However, because of the location of her tumor and the aggressiveness of Ewing's Sacroma, Heidi went through aggressive chemotherapy. Her treatment included 5 drugs and 14 chemo sessions. Each session lasted between 3-5 days, each with a different combination of drugs. This required her to be hospitalized each time she had chemotherapy.
Heidi also become immunocompromised multiple times during treatment, and had to receive 4 separate blood transfusions. She also took blood recovering drugs, such as Filgrastim, and Darbepoetin alfa. Heidi's treatment sent her into premature ovarian failure. To the surprise of her oncologists Heidi has been able to gain back her reproductive functions and was able to become pregnant and carry a full term, healthy baby.
A Word From Heidi
At this point I have not figured out why God decided to let me have cancer, but I do know that He has a plan. And I will follow His plan to the best of my ability. It is a scary thing to be diagnosed with cancer, but your priorities become really clear, and you see what is really important. The only thing I can preach about at this stage of my cancer is that even though you may think you are healthy-go see a Doctor regularly. And be aware of your body.I did not think in my wildest dreams that I would be diagnosed with a fatal disease at 22 years of age; but because I went to the Doctors regularly, I found my cancer quickly. And that is what makes the difference between life and death, and I’ll choose life.
