Meet Michele
“My only child, my sweet, brave & beautiful daughter, Michele Ekaterini Ciufecu Broadley is a forever 24 year old cancer warrior that was taken from us way too soon.
“Michele loved to live life. She loved all animals, especially her cat Dusty and she loved traveling, especially to tropical beaches.
Michele fought a three & a half year battle with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS). The cancer was initially found in her left inner forearm on July 26, 2013. Michele was only in remission for 3 months: In the fall of 2014 she relapsed with the ARMS spreading to both of her lungs.
In the final year of her cancer journey, she was referred to another oncologist who tried a new chemotherapy that seemed to be working for a short time - from February to June of 2016.
In Michele’s first battle with cancer, the treatment consisted of ten & a half months of weekly chemotherapy treatments outpatient & every third week she received three chemotherapy treatments inpatient.
In Michele’s second battle with cancer, the treatment consisted of eight & a half months of weekly inpatient and outpatient chemotherapy treatments.
Over the course of her cancer journey, Michele had six surgeries. She received daily radiation for six weeks in the first year of treatment. After she relapsed, she received a multitude of scans, tests, doctor appointments, etc.
During her fight, Michele continued college and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a major in Psychology & a minor in Women’s Studies. She held a 3.74 GPA with Magna Cum Laude high honors.
Michele even started Graduate School for her Master’s Degree in Social Work at Southern Connecticut State University. She wanted to prove that, ‘yes, I have cancer; but cancer doesn’t have me,’ as she would state on her Facebook page.
