The One I Have Been Avoiding

I have so many things I want to tell you about, including the meet and greet I went to on Friday. But the thing I MUST talk about, is the one I have been avoiding.



Two years ago, our family had one of our proudest moments. We were able to attend the graduation of my niece/cousin* from medical school.




For blog purposes, I will call her Bright Star. How can I express to you the honor she brought to our family? How proud we are of her? How amazing she is, her struggle to get through medical school, even with the death of her fiance, and having to restart a year because of it? Bright Star is the embodiment of one of the Lakota values, Wacintaka or fortitude.

Last year Bright Star was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. She is too young, we all cried! Just in her early thirties, just a year through her residency. She is too young, she has too much to do to take time off for this. This week we found how the cancer has spread to her liver and bones. The prognosis is grim. Our family is grief stricken. I have so wanted to blog about other things, to pretend this isn't happening to my niece. I can't bear to think about it, because it is breaking my heart. But if I ever want to blog again, I needed to tackle this, and let you know. Please, please. Help find a cure.


*This post explains the niece/cousin thing