Today we have a special guest post that I think you will enjoy…

Preparing for a new baby certainly does take a village. When I found out I was pregnant, my parents, my husband, his family and our friends rallied around me for what was a relatively easy nine months — no complications, no morning sickness and a quick delivery, although she was breach and I had to have C-section. Lily came into the world on August 4, 2005, and was a healthy, beautiful baby. We were thrilled! Our “village” surrounded us with help, but little did we, or our little village of support, be prepared for what happened next. ??With a new baby, I took a few weeks off of work, but decided to return to my hair salon, where I was a part owner, after a month. I’d run a salon that was part of a successful chain and managed over 20 employees, so when the company asked me to take over management of a new location, I decided to throw my work hat back into the ring. The workload would be less than my previous position, which suited me fine since I didn’t want to be away from Lily for long periods of time. ??About a month after going back to work, I started to feel run down. I was tired, couldn’t catch my breath and had absolutely no energy. I chalked these symptoms up to being a new mommy — until I started losing weight. Not the normal shedding of baby weight, but a good 5-7 pounds per week. So I went to the doctor, told him my symptoms and had a complete physical work-up.??He did blood work and I had a chest x-ray, which showed the cause — there was fluid buildup around my left lung. After more tests, scans and biopsies, the diagnosis came back. It was on November 21, 2005, just a few months after Lily popped out into our lives. ??I had malignant pleural mesothelioma — which is a cancer in the lining of the lung and is caused mainly by asbestos exposure. I’d been exposed to asbestos as a child, and now, 30 years later, I was diagnosed with mesothelioma. ??It was devastating and my first thoughts weren’t about me – they were about my Lily. At the initial diagnosis, I was told I’d have less than 15 months to live if I ignored it. That hit home, and after looking at my husband and child and thinking of them alone, without me, I decided I’d do whatever was necessary to stay on this earth with my family. ??Prognosis with mesothelioma is grim, so we did the most drastic thing we were offered — which was flying to Boston to undergo a treatment called extrapleural pneumenectomy. This surgery entails the removal of my left lung, all the tissue around it, lymph nodes, diaphragm on the left side, the lining of my heart and even one of my ribs. Then my diaphragm and heart lining were swapped with surgical Gore-Tex. ??During the surgery, they used a heated chemo wash to get rid of any other cancer. The next 18 days were spent recovering in the Boston hospital, two more months of recovery before beginning chemotherapy, and eventually radiation treatment… all on top of being a first-time mom. ??This is where our village comes in — we could not have done this without them. If there’s anything funny about cancer (there isn’t) it shows you who your true friends are. ??Lily stayed with my parents while we were in Boston, where they had their own village to help them be not only grandparents, but essentially parents. They rallied around my baby girl, and Lily learned to eat real food, crawl around and experience life in my South Dakota childhood home. I was sent email updates and pictures of her every move and I was thankful this village was watching over my Lily if I could not.??That period of time shaped who I am and who we are as a family. Although I am OK, I could not return to work, as it was too much with only one lung. Being a stay-at-home mom was the best option for me, and we live life to the fullest. We boat, camp and never take life too seriously, as we learned firsthand how fragile it can be. ??The moral of my story is this — embrace what life throws at you and with the bad, can also come a lot of good — your village will show you that.

Heather Von St. James is a guest blogger for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance