Hi! I’m Alyssa!
I’m 31 and a Pittsburgh native. I’m a mom of two, married to my best friend, working full time, and on my own personal spiritual journey. I have always loved writing. When it felt like things were spiraling downward in a path of self-destruction, writing became a way to figure myself out. My blog is all about the good, the bad, and everything in between.
I met my husband, Mike, when we were 13. We’ve spent half our lives together at this point. We’ve grown up together. At an age where people are figuring out who they are and what they want in a partner and out of life, we’ve decided to work towards the unlimited potential our relationship has. The journey of marriage and unconditional love.
Mike and I had our daughter, Gabby, when we were 15. We had an incredible support system among our family and friends. We stayed in school, and we both graduated on time with our class. (I personally managed a 3.8 GPA, which I’m very proud of!) At 19, we were living on our own and at 20, we were married. We decided to add to our little family, and our son, Ian, was born a couple years later. No matter what age you become a mother, the journey of motherhood is unlike any other.
Right before Ian’s second birthday, our world was turned upside down when our sweet boy was diagnosed with DNET brain tumors. Ian began experiencing “starring spells’ where he would become unresponsive. We were referred to a neurologist at Children’s Hospital, where Ian had his first convulsive seizure while we were speaking with her about what we’ve been seeing. We were immediately admitted to the hospital, where MRI results showed multiple tumors all over the left side of Ian’s brain. Luckily, our diagnosis of DNET meant Ian’s tumors were low grade (slow growing) and benign (will not spread to other parts of his body). Typically, DNETs are removed surgically, but Ian’s have been deemed inoperable due to the tumors going through major blood vessels in the brain. We were able to get the seizures under control, and we began getting scans every 3-4 months for the first year. In November 2020, Ian started chemotherapy treatment, as scan results showed the tumors were progressing in size. After a year on chemo, the tumors did not shrink, but they also did not grow. We then had a routine scan in September 2022 and found one of the tumors doubled in size, which was something unexpected with a low-grade diagnosis. We met with neurosurgery the next day to discuss getting a second biopsy and relieving the pressure that was building up in his brain. At that time, Ian was not experiencing symptoms. By that night, things changed rapidly, and he was rushed to Children’s ER. A CT scan showed the tumor had hemorrhaged. Ian was placed in a medically induced coma for 3 weeks before the doctors felt Ian was safe enough to perform his second brain surgery. The neurosurgeon was able to remove 95% of the tumor that hemorrhaged, and we received a new diagnosis. Pilocytic Astrocytoma. This is still low-grade, and the belief is that the tumor was slowly bleeding into itself over the course of a few months. Because of the hemorrhage, Ian also suffered hydrocephalus (pressure build up on the brain and ventricles) which caused him to have a mini stroke. He is relearning things physically and cognitively. On top of all of this, he was also diagnosed with Autism back in 2020, which is something we have to be mindful about when planning his care. Our fight is far from over. Ian is an inspiration to us each and every day. Even the hardest days. The journey of caring for a sick child.
Being in a relationship since I was 13, becoming a mother at 15, caring for a child who has multiple diagnoses, including cancer…it’s become easy to forget that I am my own person outside of these things. I have a lot to work on within myself, but I’m ready to unleash the woman I was meant to be. I’m on my own path for internal happiness. This is the journey of self-discovery and everything in between.