Brooke Somosko
Survivor
$1000 Winner
Help us congratulate Brooke. She is an amazing young lady with an amazing survival story.
" On July 13th, 2018, I was diagnosed with Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma, which is a rare form of Liver Cancer that has no none origin. I had been working with a gastroenterologist at Akron Children’s Hospital for over 2 years to find a reason for uncontrolled and unexpected vomiting I had been struggling with since I was in 7th grade. After 2 years of testing and medications, we could not resolve or find a cause for this happening. I was puking before I went to bed 1-3 times a week for 6 years. I was misdiagnosed with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, meaning the root of my vomiting with neurologically being trigger so I was placed on a dosage of an Antidepressant. In hopes that the antidepressant would suppress the vomiting but of course that didn’t work either. So finally, my doctor ruled out the Cyclic Vomiting syndrome and wanted to restart our search for a cause. She then decided to order an Ultrasound on my gallbladder to see if I had gallstones that could be a cause. On July 13th, I went to Akron Children ‘s hospital for an Ultrasound where they then found a 5-pound tumor growing inside of liver. Before I was diagnosed, I just had finished my first year of college at the University of Akron majoring in Accounting. Since then, I have now been admitted into the Nursing program and have achieved top 15% of my class with a grade point average of 3.88.
Cancer changed my life in a lot of ways. It gave me strength and motivation to make the best of life even when things get dark. Cancer showed me to chase my dreams of practicing medicine instead of settling with a business degree. I plan to work in a children’s hospital when I graduate to empower other kids and families who are going through struggles most people would never understand."
You will be the most amazing nurse Brooke. We cant wait to see you succeed!