Elizabeth Thevenaz, 2007 Luminaria Ceremony Speaker
	Dear Cancer Survivors and those attending Relay, My name is Elizabeth and I would like to share my story with you in hopes that it might provide you with some hope and encouragement.  When I was barely 17 years old, I was diagnosed with a rare type of head/neck cancer, Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Within a heartbeat, my whole world had changed.
It went from a fun and carefree teenage life with my friends and dance team ... to a rough journey where I experienced baldness, sleepless nights, endless nausea, diarrhea, open sores, and vomiting.  My weight dropped to eighty pounds, and I had to receive my nutrition intravenously through a port--a catheter to keep my strength up.  I had feelings of hopelessness and depression while I underwent five cycles of chemotherapy, forty radiation treatments, three surgeries and numerous prescriptions and needle-sticks. I am now a healthy, happy and a more appreciative person. I would not have made it through my harsh treatment without the never-ending dedication, skill, love, support, and encouragement I received from my amazing family, doctors and nurses.  The nurses and doctors shared their own experiences with cancer with me and all that they had endured and overcome, which gave me a renewed hope, courage and determination that I too could pull through. My doctors and nurses became an unexpected inspiration--I now have the passion to save lives like they saved mine.  I am currently a student at College of the Canyons, and plan to start Nursing School in the fall. I also volunteer with the American Cancer Society and work as a Nursing Assistant at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. I would like to take this special opportunity to thank my mom, sister, friends, and boyfriend for their unconditional love and my doctor's, nurses, too, for getting me through the harsh treatment and not ever letting me give up. After battling cancer, I am now so grateful and happy for the simple things in life and feel like I can overcome any of life's obstacles as well as enjoy life's achievements. For those still battling cancer, stay strong and optimistic because you too, will pull through. Elizabeth Thevenaz