Pale Girl SpeaksRhonda's Story
During the spring of 2009 I noticed that I wasn’t myself. I started to become very lethargic, oftentimes too exhausted to get out of bed. I went to many doctors, but none could diagnose my illness. Then during May of 2009 my daughter Ashley, graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Although I was thankfully able to make the trip, at that point my health had deteriorated to the point that I was in a wheelchair. When I returned to LA, I was having terrible headaches so the doctor suggested I have an MRI. That’s when they discovered the brain tumor in my right temporal lobe. I was rushed to UCLA hospital and immediately admitted to the Neuro-ICU.
My tumor was successfully removed on May 26, 2009, by Dr. Linda Liau who I affectionately call “my doctor with hands of gold”. But this was just the beginning of my road to recovery. The tumor turned out to be malignant melanoma (cancer), and thus I was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma. The melanoma had metastasized to my brain, my arm and my lungs. The one on the arm was protruding so much that it looked like a baseball. Dr. Stephen O’day, an incredible oncologist at The Angeles Clinic, suggested I do a double blind clinical trial. I accepted and every month I took pills and prayed that I was not getting the placebo and that the trial drug would work.
At first there were no changes, but then suddenly a miracle occurred. The lump on my arm was slowly but surely shrinking!!! Scans later revealed that the tumor on the lung was shrinking too. After every doctor appointment my husband, Evan, sent out his email report to dozens of friends and family who then shared the news with others. Everyone was praying for me, and I felt so loved and supported. In all the emails, Evan told everyone to have positive thoughts, which evolved into his signature being “Evan Positive Finkel.” That eventually led to our family mantra being “Think Positive”, and the name of my web site, www.thinkpositive4all.com.
On January 19, 2010, my scans did not show any signs of tumors or the cancer. I have been celebrating ever since. But I know that others with brain tumors and melanoma have not been as fortunate, and that every day more people learn that they are similar afflicted. I want to do everything I can to help others and to raise money for research that will lead to more treatments, a cure and preventative medicine. This web site is one step in that direction.