My name is Megan Silianoff, I’m 33, and live in Houston, Texas. I own a boutique PR company called Mad Meg Creative Services, I write a blog called Greetings from Texas, and am a prolific author. I love my life and it is 100% a life I wouldn’t have the privilege of living without ovarian cancer.
I was 28, recently married, working for my family’s staffing business, and living in downtown Chicago when I was diagnosed with cancer. I thought I was just hung over one fall morning as I’d indulged in two "Blue Moons" the night before. But 48 hours later I was still feeling bad and my left arm had swollen up like a sumo wrestler. I went to the ER and it was discovered that I had a massive blood clot in my neck and in my arm. Blood clots can be a symptom of cancer and that bizarre “hangover” was the very beginning of an eventual 5-year dance with a disease that was responsible for four major surgeries, a minor breast surgery, and a deep love for Norco. The details of my cancer (and adoption) story are chronicled in my memoir 99 Problems but a Baby Ain’t One – A Memoir about Cancer, Adoption, and My Love for Jay – Z. But what I want to impress upon you today is that cancer changed my life for the better.
I acknowledge it’s a provocative thing to say, especially, when Susan’s plight didn’t end so ideally. But without cancer, I never would’ve started a Caringbridge blog – the thing that jumpstarted a completely different career path for me. One that I love and wake up every day excited to conquer. Without cancer, Macy’s dad and I would’ve never adopted her, the little girl who makes us laugh and experience love in a whole new way. Without cancer I wouldn’t know how capable and strong I can be when crisis appears; I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Ovarian cancer changed my life for the better and for that I am so very lucky.