Welcome to our CaringBridge website.  We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place.  We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement.  Thank you for visiting.&nbsp;Hello, first of all let me introduce myself. (i’m Erika, Linas granddaughter,but i’m just writing what comes from her thoughts okay) So for all Understanding purposes, this is a short entry to acknowledge many wonderful people. A quick introduction for this first journal entry. In February 2020 the doctors diagnosed me with an aggressive form of breast cancer, (imagine the color and sound starting to fade from this next part) being so aggressive it also had spread to a local lymph node nearby and basically the next month after that day was Full of a whirlwind of appointments, meetings, meeting my awesome cancer team of doctors, Blood tests, medicine, more doctors appts, then by the next month surgery was scheduled. In the midst of a pandemic where most doctors trips now didn’t allow my Husband to accompany me on the already life changing series of choices now put in front of me .&nbsp;<br><br>To keep it short, my world was slipping away from my new day to day norm and reality. I decided to be strong and not let the hand i’d just been dealt rule my life. i know that if i began to wallow in negativity it would quickly consume my life. (then almost as if life’s color and sound was now coming back ) So i decided that i was going to stay positive and take this journey one day at a time and no matter what the situation was i would not let this break my spirit and positivity.&nbsp;<br>

Lina, Loving & Living

Update: My Story – by Erika Martinez