About Me

Hello everybody!

I'm Becky Florence, and you're reading my blog - that means so much to me! Thank you.

Here's what you need to know about me:

I grew up in Clovis, California. It was there I learned to drive, I graduated High School, and eventually met the love of my life, Matthew. Matthew and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Fresno, California Temple, and we've been together for 9 years. In those nine years, we've had 12 moves, lived in 3 states, had three adorable boys, survived lay offs, and endured (and still are enduring) a cancer diagnosis.

I've run my own business since May of 2012 - I love graphic design so much. (and pineapples!) I'm PPDesignCo. on Etsy and on Amazon.  Whatever money I make, goes towards paying off cancer medical bills (keeping me alive is so expensive, you guys!) Due to recent treatments and emotional health healing, I'm no longer selling invites, but am working on cute instant-downloads specifically geared towards my faith.

I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Synovial Sarcoma 6 weeks after I had my third child, and 2 months after my husband was laid off work, when we were living in Nashville, Tennessee. There was a massive 19cm tumor in my thigh - no wonder my leg had hurt for so long! I ended up having a surgical biopsy, (what is now called an oops! surgery, because it can lead to metastasis) where they took a chunk of the tumor out, to confirm cancer status. We were in for some really, really hard times when we got the phone call with the pathology report.

Chemotherapy and Radiation only made my tumor swell, so I underwent a serious surgery and risked having a foot drop for the rest of my life. *Side note, most people with a synovial sarcoma tumor as large as mine, usually have to amputate the limb associated with it. Thankfully, the surgery went well, I still had my leg and I didn't have a foot drop; However, the tumor was wrapped around, and crushing (killing) part of my sciatic nerve. This meant that the Surgeon had to remove part of that nerve to get clear margins. So.. my right foot and ankle are mostly numb (imagine having a permanent sock on), I can't curl my toes, and I don't have function on the left side of my ankle and my right calf. It's fun to see people freak out about how my foot turns to the right when I point my toes. lol If you see me limping a little, that's because my calf will never fire. Now you know!

At that point, after surgery, I was clear of any cancer and got the OK from my medical team to move out to Salt Lake City, Utah to live closer to family. Matthew would also be taking a completely different career course. If we were going to start over, we might as well start over in the place we'd really want to live for the rest of our lives, right? Also, thankfully there was a Sarcoma Center near by to see me through post cancer/surgery. With a rare cancer like mine, you need a specialist.

During one of my routine CT scans at the Huntsman, a nodule had shown up and was showing some growth. I had a lung biopsy (it was awful - that's another story for another day) done to confirm that the cancer had spread to both of my lungs. I cried a lot that day. A lot. My heart sunk so low when I got the phone call with the pathology report. My first oncologist told me that when it metastasized to the lungs, it would be very hard to treat. Because my type of cancer is so rare, there aren't a lot of stats available.. so that means that most people diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma die. yay.

I'm currently being treated at Primary Children's Hospital since that's where my sarcoma specialist is, and I absolutely love my medical team. I've tried many different chemotherapies, healthy eating, etc. and so far.. nothing has really worked. We thought my most recent chemotherapy (Votrient) was working at keeping new tumors at bay, and making the tumors grow slower.. but with my latest scans, and the scans before that, we came to the conclusion that it may have not been working this whole time. I've had two major lung surgeries to remove fast growing tumors in the last year to give me more time. There aren't any options left where I wouldn't have to travel for treatment... so things aren't looking that great right now.  If I didn't have a solid spiritual plan/connection with God, I would be toast at this point. I would be hopeless.

I grew up in as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but it wasn't until recently that I've really felt my own personal conversion. I'm so thankful to know that there is life after death. That because of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, all of us will have victory over death and will have the chance to return to our Heavenly Father.

God has been with me throughout this whole cancer journey. While at times I've been sad, even miserable, I still knew I wasn't alone. There would be little, almost daily miracles that would remind me that Heavenly Father was aware of me, and cared about me.

I tell people that cancer may kill my body, but it has saved my soul. Because of my diagnosis, my testimony that trials are hand-tailored to our needs to grow into the people that God believes we can be. They are what we need to grow and achieve eternal life and exaltation. We cannot know joy, if we do not know pain and sorrow. My testimony has grown so much throughout this whole process, and while I've really had a hard time going through this journey, I know there is much Heavenly Father would have me learn.

Thus my reason for starting this blog. It's been a long time coming, but I've felt so strongly that I need to share my testimony and cancer experience with all of you. So many have already told me that my stories and testimony have helped them. If my relationship with God can bring me through cancer, then I believe coming to know God will help others too. I want to be a useful tool in God's hands, to maybe help draw people nearer to Christ. I've felt so inspired about everything I've written thus far, and my hope is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and share His light. This is a way I can be a missionary, and I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity and not let it delay any further.

There you have it! Just a little about me to catch you up on recent blog posts. I will edit this from time to time as far as updating cancer treatment status and such. Thanks again for reading!

xo - Becky Flo