Meet Christian:

”the night I heard my mom cry ‘my daughter has cancer’”

“I believed I was dehydrated and overworking myself during cheer practice,” says Christian, about her symptoms before diagnosis. “After a few months of dizziness, fatigue, extreme weight loss, and constant heart racing, my mom put her fist down. She forced me to the ER, where we learned my resting heart rate was 130 and BP was 180/120.”

Christian was twelve years old.

“I remember the nurse’s forehead crinkling as she called the doctor, staring intently at my abnormally high heart rate,” she told us. “In only a week, I had been to almost ten specialists and appointments. It was incredibly confusing until the night I heard my mom cry ‘my daughter has cancer’ to someone on the phone.”

Along with her diagnosis of an adrenal cancer - pheochromocytoma - Christian was also diagnosed with Von Hippel Lindau Syndrome, a rare genetic predisposition that means she could face recurrent tumor battles throughout her life.

“In a matter of days, I was a pediatric cancer patient.”

Because of her predisposition to developing tumors, she’s had both adrenal glands removed and undergone chemotherapy treatments to her left eye because of two tumors located near her optic nerve.

“I can find peace and gratitude in the fact that I was diagnosed so young,” Christian says. “I now am on a strict imaging schedule with about five specialists constantly assuring me the most preventative care possible. I realize everyday how lucky I am to have survived cancer at such a young age and to live so well with my remaining tumors. I feel like it is the least I can do to use my fortunes in order to give back to the community that once fought so hard for me.”