Out of Pod Experience

My life has been a long series of beat-downs and recoveries. I moved out my mothers house when I was 18 and started my life, energetic and determined to make something of myself having dreams and grandiose plans to make those dreams come true. I knew th Looking back now it is evident how much grace and blessing God had bestowed upon me.

I have always been gainfully employed as long as I wanted to be. Whenever there was a serious need in my life God made sure it was mett. I was originally diagnosed with cancer at the age of 19. At that time I was employed full-time at an organ store in the mall making minimum wage meanwhile paying for dance lessons $100 each so I could become a dance instructor and fullfil my dream of owning my own studio. The studio I was taking lessons at was not hiring, nor was the other nearby studio. I attended a competition in hopes of getting a job at one of the others, I talked to multiple studio owners and set an interview with one of them. On a Friday I rode my motorcycle 2 and a half hours accross the state for an interview. Monday I recieved a call from the studio telling me I was hired, after months of training, countless hours practicing, and every spare penny I could muster I finally got a job at a dance studio.on Tuesday I recieved a call from my doctor telling me I have cancer. I cried for two days, not because I had cancer, but because I had to reject the job I worked so hard to obtain.

I had become ill with a cold and had a small stabbing pain in my chest whenever I breathed in deep, and with my history of asthma and the cold weather I did not give it much thought. Also with my limited finances seeing a doctor was out of the question. However, by the grace of the Lord, one of the students at the studio I was taking lessons at was married to a doctor. She offered to have him examine me pro-bono. I called his office and scheduled the appointment. When I saw him he did the normal examination routine. Then he got to the turn your head and cough part. He started feeling my throat followed by my neck, where his face frowned.

He finished the physical exam then asked me a few questions. How long were there lumps in my neck? I replied, "About couple months or so, why?' He ignored my question and asked if I had lost any weight recently and if I had nightsweats or was exhausted. I responded with, " Yeah I have been trying to lose weight! I am down about 30 lbs in the last 2 months doc! I work out every day, so I am tired a lot, and its Florida, I don't have air conditioning so yeah I sweat a little bit at night.'He looks at me and says, 'I think you have cancer, those are the signs, lumps in your neck, weightloss, nightsweats and exhaustion.'

He called in a favor to a surgeon and offered to pay for my biopsy if I was unable to afford it. Thanks to God I was able to obtain medicaid that covered the cost, but he was such a generous man, he would have paid for my my operation out of his pocket. The surgeon then called in a favor to an oncologist that had treated him for cancer, and after a few tests and scans I finally recieved the call where I was informed that I had Stage II Hodgekins Lymphoma.

If it was not for the will and grace of God, I would have gone untreated for who knows how long because my life actions were masking my symptoms of cancer. I was purposefully exercising daily, working out, dancing, and had a full time job. So I was always tired and purposefully losing weight. I did not have a/c so it was always hot when I slept, so sweating was nothing special, the lumps in my neck did not hurt so I thought nothing of them.

After going through chemo for 6 months I was declared in remission. I then devoted my life to getting back what was taken from me, a job as a dance instructor. God works in mysterious ways, while I was undergoing treatment I played a lot of World of Warcraft. I was trying to make spare cash making websites for guilds in the game. I responded to an ad on craigslist, and it so happened that my client was best friends with a dance studio owner. He put in a word for me and I went for an interview as soon as I was healthy enough. The studio was not hiring at the time so I was placed in a training class. I was disheartened that I could not get hired, but at least I was getting training for free and not paying for it anymore!!!

I traveled an hour twice a week for training classes. After about 2 months, one of the instructors broke a leg playing soccer. I was then hired as his replacement. Like I said, God works in mysterious ways. I was always angry. Why did I get cancer? I am only 19. Why did I have to go through tha? Why Lord? Why the pain, the agony, and the suffering? Why me!? But God had a plan for me. If I had not gotten cancer, I would not have met that person on craigslist, I would not have recieved the referral. I would not have been hired for that job. Which turned out to be a better job than the one I was offered a year earlier. Better pay, closer to home, and a better studio. The other studio went out of business not long after I started my treatments.

Thanks be to God, I was now living my dream. Getting PAID to do the thing I enjoyed most, teaching dance. I put every ounce of my being into my job, I worked my hardest to achieve my goal and become the #1 dance instructor, and with God's help I made it happen. I started working in October, and cultivated a good student body so that when the new year came and charts were wiped clean I was able to achieve 1st place. In February our studio participated in a dance competition. After only working in the franchise for 5 months I took 6th place top teacher and my student took 1st place in her category. It was the happiest moment in my life.

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Funny, how you praise the God for good, but you don't blame him for bad.

Cancer is really annoying, I understand your pain and frustration. Fortunately, where I'm from cancer treatment is quite affordable for pretty much everyone. Excuse me if I sound cruel, but perhaps you should ask God for money, or the United States Government.