“When diagnosed, the next few weeks will be the hardest of your life.  Until you get through all of your appointments and until you know your treatment plan, everything will be foggy and filled with anxiety.  I hope knowing that helps you.  It’s ok to not be ok.”  - Denise, My Cancer Family

 

 

Gabriela DeMassi is a 31 year old 3x cancer survivor and patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering who has been conquering her journey since she was first diagnosed following her college graduation in 2013. Although this rare form of cervical cancer battle has been something that she has had to tackle from all different angles throughout the years, she refuses to let this disease stop her from living her life to the absolute fullest. Whether it is traveling, cooking, working, or starting her own company, her outlook on life has always been that she refuses to let “C” get in the way of her dreams and will do whatever it takes to accomplish them!

 

You are sharing your story on social media, does that help you and how?

 

Yes, this has certainly helped me throughout the years. I really started sharing my story on social media not long after Instagram was launched. The platform was fairly new and at first and I didn’t want to discuss it because no one, including doctors, had answers for me. I quickly realized that maybe I can find answers by connecting with others. My scenario has always been extremely rare from the very beginning (which is both a positive and negative) but once I put myself out there with my story, I couldn’t believe the reach outs and connections I have made. I met others virtually who had such inspiring stories to share and we were able to bounce ideas, treatments, products, doctors names, etc off of one another. So may ironic things have happened over the years from having a platform to share my story on. I have made close relationships with caregivers, referred my doctors/hospital to dozens of other warriors who were able to benefit from them, and even started my own company that specializes in headwear accessories since I saw a demand for fashionable head wraps. It’s wild because it’s like a whole different type of niche that I normally never would have understood. You sort of don’t really get it until you get it.  (Gabbabands)

 

 

Your story was also in the news for such a beautiful reason does it still resonate with you today and what message will you give to others about how people / cops helped you?