A True Inspiration from Esky

This post is going to be about my friend Becky and her neverending inspiration she gives me & I'm sure many others.

I met Beck when I was around 10 years old. She was a good friend of my cousin Brenda. Anyways, Becky was always a nice gal & didn't make my young childish self seem like a burden to be around. Awhile ago I was having a not too swellacious day with my meniere's crappolla & was really down & out. I had had been talking to Brenda and she informed me of Becky & her health problems. I hadn't seen or heard from becky in eons but I often wondered what ever became of her. Brenda went on to tell me Becky has brain tumors & is completely deaf & has no remaining balance. She also told me that she is a cancer survivor & said I should check out her blog sometime. Only thing, Brenda didn't give me an addy to Beck's blog.

A couple months passed & I got in an MM funk again & I feverishly searched the web for this blog of Becky's that Brenda had told me about. My hope was to get out of "oh poor poor Kathy" mode I was slipping into. Low & behold I found it & I think I pulled an all nighter catching up with Beck's past several years via her web page. Some entries had me laughing, some had me wanting to bop ignorant people in the butt & others had me bawling my eyes out.

See, Becky has a genetic disorder called Neufibromatosis Type 2.

It is defined as : NF2 is Neurofibromatosis, Type II. It is a genetic disorder that causes benign (non-cancerous) tumors in the brain and/or throughout the central nervous system, often accompanied by peripheral tumors. These tumors are called either neurofibromas or schwannomas. They grow on nerves and put pressure on the nerves that eventually causes damage to the nerves. Symptoms vary depending on which nerves are involved and the size of the tumors. NF2 is caused by a defect in a gene on chromosome 22. The affected gene has been identified, but at this time there is no cure for NF2. Surgical removal of the tumors is the main treatment at this time, but attempting to treat the tumors with several types of radiation surgery is becoming more common.

Some good sources for additional NF2 background are AdvoCureNF2, Children's Tumor Foundation, Neurofibromatosis, Inc., and Wikipedia. There are several other good NF2 related resources on our Links page.

NF2 has taken her hearing & her balance & has paralized part of her face just to name a few things. But ya know, Beck continues to go on each & every day. In my opinion she does far more than any "healthy" person has ever accomplished. She has a beautiful soul & is an amazing advocate for NF2 & deafness & participates in numerous fundraisers. She will kick off her upcoming quest for NF with not one but TWO 5K races this June & will complete her fundraising mission with a 31.5 mile hike on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail (SVT) in Washington on September 7th, 2008. I have added a link to her fundraising page on my main page. Feel free to donate if at all possible. Every penny helps to find Beck along with many other sufferers of NF2a cure!!!