A little background... |
My name is Alexandra. I am a 28-year-old resident physician in the Department of Internal Medicine-Pediatrics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I graduated from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NYC with a dual degree M.D/Master's of Science in Clinical Research. Prior to medical school, I graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in Public Health Studies.
This website was first made in 2003, when my parents were interested in finding a more efficient way of keeping concerned friends and family updated on my battle with osteosarcoma (a rare pediatric bone cancer). In the middle of chemotherapy, my right leg was amputated above-the-knee. A few months after the amputation, I began learning how to walk on a prosthesis. There have been some challenges along the way... but life has dealt me a great set of cards.
Now, I find myself in an interesting position. The same family, friends and care team members that took such exquisite care of me during my hardest years often reach out to me for an update: Where has life taken you? What are you doing now? (My hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, checked in with me here.) I've happily been in remission since 2003. And yet, explaining "the leg story" as often as I am asked, always entails explaining cancer. And that's not what's defined so much of what I've done in life thus far. The years since my time at MSKCC have been the best mix of challenging and rewarding experiences. I've mastered walking on a microprocessing prosthetic knee (still working on flights of stairs, but I'll get there...), climbed the Great Wall with amputee athletes, joined adaptive ski racing camps, tackled rock walls, played clarinet in orchestras, spoken at cancer survivor support groups, and made life-long friends as a counselor at a youth amputee summer camp. I'm swimming, rock climbing and skiing when I can, I'm learning how to use my running leg, and working on that whole ride-a-bike situation. It's an exciting time. Without my own history, maybe I wouldn't have the same sparkle in my eyes when you ask me why I'm in medical school aiming to care for children with cancer. I can't say I don't face challenges every so often; I have some rough days, and then I get past them. The best thing about rough patches, is that they end. All I'm saying is that, if you asked me if I wish things could be different, I'd hesitate to answer... because I wouldn't know what to tell you. |