Nadia Van Camp is an amazing woman.
I just found out today she lost her battle with breast cancer. I went to her 50th birthday party last year. Yes, 50th. I want to cry. She was one of those women who brightened the room when she came in. Even in the face of recurrence and brain mets and chemotherapies, she still had that beautiful energy. Like sunshine packaged into a person.
I am so sad. She had her first tumor when she was in her early40s. She has a strong family history, so she was aggressive in treatment. Bilateral mastectomies, oophorectomy, chemo, radiation. She fought this disease like no one I have seen. And if positive thinking and the mind can change the effects of cancer, she would have done it.
But it had reached lymph nodes.
Later it recurred.
Nadia’s Gift to me ? Her friendship. Her inspiration. I am proud to have had her in my life for the time I did. In all of the ick of fighting this horrible disease, she made her 50th birthday a blow out bash and fundraiser. She started an organization to fight breast cancer, particularly the aggressive horrible kind affecting young women.
We forget every day is a gift. Thank you for reminding me once again what is important.
The world has lost a ray of sunshine today.
http://www.nadiasgift.org/
Although the tumor was quite small at that time, Nadia knew it would have significant impact on her life and the lives of those close to her as she lost her mother at age 50 and two of her aunts to breast cancer. Through genetic testing, Nadia’s pre-disposition to this disease was confirmed, which presented very high odds of this life altering event and it’s ensuing re-occurrence. Attacking the disease as aggressively as she could, Nadia spent 6 hours on an operating table as a double mastectomy and prophylactic oophorectomy were performed. This was followed by many weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. However, she also learned of lymph node involvement in the process, which became the pathway for future metastasis that she continues to fight every day. Over the course of time, Nadia has had brain surgery to remove a mass on her cerebellum and two procedures of radio surgery to contain other brain lesions determined to be inoperable. She’s had numerous direct spinal infusions of chemo to address tumors that developed there. These infusions became ineffective over time, which led to an intensive daily course of whole brain and spine radiation for six straight weeks in the fall of 07. Since that time Nadia has endured continued chemotherapy to manage a metastasis in her liver and a reoccurrence in her brain. Now partially disabled from the brain and spine involvement and the treatments themselves, through all of this, she’s never really flinched. She’s never lost her incredible smile, never lost her ability to so readily laugh with, and love her family and many close friends. Or how she finds a way to bring her husband joy every day.