Young woman fights rare form of cancer

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - A 23-year-old Suffolk woman is in the fight of her life, battling a rare form of cancer.

Miche' Alston is a graduate student at Regent University, studying government and law.

"I want to be a Commonwealth's attorney," Miche' said.

Her life took a twist when she played basketball barefoot outside and stepped on a piece of glass. Miche was then diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma, a rare, hard to treat soft tissue tumor.

The focus in her and her mother's lives shifted from basketball to fighting for Marche's life. One of her toes was amputated in an effort to remove the tumor but the tumor returned. Miche' had undergone four surgeries in just one month.

"It was the hardest month of my life," Miche' said. "Seriously. Those four surgeries were extreme but God saw me through it."

Miche' and her mother's faith is huge, as are the medical bills.

"You have to make the decision, 'Do I put food in the fridge, gas in the car, then rent?' There have been days like that," said Miche's mother, Linda.

Miche' has had seven major surgeries since she was 17.

"[She had] 18 months of chemo and that was every single Friday," Linda said. "We drove four hours there and four hours back."

The mother and daughter duo has been renting a car every weekend to drive to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for chemotherapy.

"I'm a single parent," Linda said. "I work full time. I pay her deductible. She's fully covered on my insurance but there are things outside insurance that have to be taken care of."

"We have transportation, I have my treatment, I need my medication," Miche' said. "I have to meet with my doctors. If not, maybe we'll put it off until next week or we'll go next month. It's necessary things we have to do to survive."

Miche's mother has stayed strong throughout the process.

"When you're watching your child fight for her life, the last thing you want to fo is think, 'How do I get her medication?" Linda said. "I know that Miche' will be that one who is going to live beyond her years on earth and we're gonna beat this cancer."

Visit Miche's Facebook page to learn more about her story.