Helena Trent - Part 39

On September 24, 2018, my lung biopsy results came back positive for cancer.

I had a CT scan result that showed a mass/tumor in my left lung along with multiple lesions in my spine and ribs indicating the cancer has already metastasized. The biopsy is only the last confirmation needed to move forward.

So many friends have reached out since with prayers and well wishes. As much as I like to keep in touch with each and everyone, I have very limited energy and constantly in pain. I decided to start this blog to keep everyone informed and to document my journey.

This is by far the biggest challenge I have to face in my life. I have always been healthy and full of energy. I have never smoked. I don’t have cancer in my family history. This is a total shock to me. I don’t fit the profile for lung cancer, but I don’t need to. Life has its ways.

Every stumbling block in life has taught me much about myself and the world around me, shaped me to be the person I am today. This is no different. Many times I don’t know life’s lesson until I have passed through it, but this time, I know the lesson loud and clear.

The lesson is love.
The final lesson of it all.

It has always been the lesson life wants me to learn all my life. Now is the time. I will embrace this experience. I will embrace cancer. I will embrace life. If I die from this, I will die living and loving consciously.

To all my friends and family around the world that are supporting me through this journey, I am deeply touched by your love and kindness. No matter how this journey ends, I know I am deeply loved and cared for. Thank you all for your prayers!

I’ve heard a story from a few different sources now, and wanted to see if anyone else was aware of it.

Apparently, in the 80s there was a group of students at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio who ran a cigarette smuggling ring, selling highly discounted cigarettes to anyone on campus (students, faculty, staff). As the story goes, the group consisted of a small core group of students who would sell cigs to another student, then put the “bite” on them to receive free product by becoming a distributor. A self-sustaining recruiting model that allows a group to grow organically, hence the term “vampire”.

When I think of this, naturally it brings to mind the classic Multi-Level Marketing structure that we’re all so familiar with, but with the added loyalty provided by addiction to smoking. I can certainly imagine worse business models.

I know two former Miami students who, independent of each other, swear that the organization existed, that they were frequent customers, and in one case could name her sales contact. Details on the leadership or founders is not forthcoming, however.

It sounds like something out of a movie. Can anyone who was there confirm or deny?

Lung Cancer

The Legend of the Nicotine Vampires