Pickleball Magazine 2-4 Courtesy of Pickleball Channel | Page 56

Loving Life & Living Pickleball

A three-time cancer survivor , Erica McNeal is now a pickleball tournament champion and co-owner of Pickleball Ninjas .

BY ERICA MCNEAL

When I was 22 years old , I learned the hard way that the only difference between a stumbling block and a stepping-stone is how you use it .

I was a graduating senior in college , captain of our women ’ s volleyball team , and so excited to “ start real life .” However , I learned quickly that sometimes real life could be difficult when I was diagnosed with a very rare type of cancer , so rare in fact that my doctors had never heard of it . After researching , they found that this type of cancer had only been diagnosed in a handful of men over the age of 80 . After surgery and three weeks of radiation , my doctor told me that if the cancer returned , I could have two months to live .
Four and a half years later , I was newly married to the man of my dreams when my cancer returned . My husband Todd was on his first of four military deployments and not expected to be home for three months . Doing the math , I reached him and told him that if he wanted to see me again , he would need to come home . He was sent home a week later and I went through another surgery and three more weeks of radiation . Thankfully , I went into remission again .
At that time we were told the cancer was not as aggressive as once believed and given the all-clear to start a family . In 2006 , we had our first daughter , Jordyn , who is now 11 years old . We had no idea at the time what a true miracle she would be .
In the three years following Jordyn ’ s birth , my husband and I experienced the premature delivery of our daughter Kylie , who only lived for 80 minutes , a miscarriage , and a failed adoption of a little boy we named and brought home from the hospital . His mom had decided to revoke his adoption plan and we were totally crushed .
In our grieving , my husband and I threw caution to the wind and became pregnant with twins . However , at around 10 weeks I miscarried and was left emotionally raw and exhausted . In a way only God can do , that exact same day our now-adopted son was born . When Austin was seven months old , we finalized his adoption and it was a true celebration .
However , that celebration would not last long . Just two weeks later , my cancer returned . This time , my doctor decided on chemotherapy . The chemo drug was supposed to be low-key with few side effects , but I ended up with a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction . It left me with inflammation in my heart and lungs , as well as an autoimmune disorder . Apparently I am highly allergic to mice and the chemo was infused with mice antibodies . While my heart returned to normal after a few months , the inflammation in my lungs caused severe chest pain and pressure for more than three years .
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