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Hi, my name is Tia and I was born in Chicago and grew up just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Which explains my love for Harley’s!! I’ve been riding on the back of them since I was about 15 years old. I’ll never forget my 1 st ride. It was on the most incredible machine I’d ever seen or heard!! Regardless of not having a back seat, I plopped my behind on the fender, and took off. Ever since then, I was hooked on motorcycles. About 9 years ago, I relocated to Los Angeles, California and was tired of looking for someone to ride with. I decided to take the CCRider course and get my own darn license! Unfortunately, the first attempt ended with me flying over the handlebars, but it didn’t stop me. After I healed, I completed the course and received my M1 license. However, it took me over 2 years to finally afford a bike. Well, not really. I was too anxious and took out a cash advance on my credit card to buy a Harley!! Unfortunately, I didn’t get much time to ride it. Just after my 30 th birthday, I discovered a lump in my breast. I figured it was nothing, as did everyone else, but wanted to make sure. I went to a doctor at my school who said "it's probably nothing" but recommended a mammogram. A WHAT!!! A MAMMOGRAM... Happy &%*$#@ birthday!!! So, whatever, I went for the mammogram and the doctors said "it's probably nothing" but told me I needed an ultrasound. After the ultrasound the doctors said "it's probably nothing", yet recommended a lumpectomy!!! WHAT?? I thought it was "nothing". So after going for a second opinion, then a third, and even a fourth, I went with the first recommendation. Well, after the lumpectomy, the "nothing" turned into "something". I had breast cancer. After a mastectomy with reconstruction surgeries, 6 rounds of aggressive chemo, another surgery to implant a port-a-cath to administer the chemo, a blood clot from that port, a week quarantined in the hospital due to a dangerously low immune system, passing of kidney stones, surgery again to remove the port, then a final reconstructive surgery, I have just passed my two year "cancer-free" anniversary, and completed my BA degree with a teaching credential!! Through the “cancer cloud” I was living in, I learned that slowing down, asking for help, or saying, "Sorry, I can't" doesn't make me weak. I realized the joy in doing nothing, and ultimately, that cancer cannot destroy personal confidence. Cancer does change your life and I’m gradually getting used to my new normal life. I used to hope for the day when I could forget I had cancer, but now I don’t because it has given me the passion to appreciate living my life. Mentally, physically and emotionally, I feel stronger and more alive than I ever felt. I am becoming an active advocate of awareness and prevention. If I can prevent even one woman from going through what I went through, my job is fulfilled. Everything happens for a reason, and this may be part of the reason it happened to me. Becoming active gives me the opportunity to promote and channel all my knowledge I've obtained from this experience. I hope it will also fulfill a part inside of me that I feel I've lost through all this. A part I cannot explain, but by participating in this event, will help facilitate its return. Although my fight against cancer will never be completely over, I have won.
Tia in the News "A Survivor Takes to the Road Aboard a Harley to Fight Cancer"
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