A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME

I was born in Mongolia one month premature, late at night in a hospital where there were very few doctors attending. My mother was giving birth to me when a nurse panicked and accidentally twisted my head and pushed me back into my mother's birth canal, depriving my brain of oxygen. When my mother pushed me out, I was purple and blue. A doctor rushed in and administered several injections into my skull.

My family took me home and noticed I was developing slower than normal. I couldn't sit up or turn over. When my mother voiced her concerns to the doctor, he simply told her I was fat. Then one day, she watched my younger cousin walking and said to me, "If she can walk, why can't you?"

Something clicked. That same night, I pulled myself up and started moving — holding onto furniture, then walls. I was determined to prove I could do anything anyone else could do. That drive never left me.

At 3 years old I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. At 6, my family moved to America so I could receive treatment. I eventually found my way to Shriners Hospital for Children, where several surgeries changed my life.

But that was just the beginning of my story.

In the years that followed, I faced a new chapter I never anticipated — a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. Two surgeries. Six months of chemotherapy. A full hysterectomy. Days where my body waved a white flag and nights where I questioned everything. Through all of it, I kept choosing to live — fully, loudly, and maybe a little chaotically.

Today, I work as a Direct Support Professional at LIFE, a job that fills my heart in ways I can't always put into words. I travel. I go on adventures. I laugh a lot. I advocate hard — for myself and for others who are still learning to do the same.

This blog, Shining in the Middle, is where I document all of it — the hard parts, the plot twists, the golden moments, and everything in between. Because I believe that real life, told honestly, is what actually connects us.

My ability is stronger than my disability. And my story? It's not over yet. 💛

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