Summary:
Rachel DiGregorio is not bitter that it took doctors nearly four months to figure out she had a softball-sized tumor in her brain.
That’s because malice is missing from her DNA. She believes grudges are heavy to lug around. She’d rather focus on beating the tumor that recently invaded her brain for the second time in 22 months.
“I know there will be days when I’ll feel sorry for myself and get down,” said the 32-year-old Bloomington woman. “But I feel it’s a waste of perfectly good energy to obsess over the unknown.”
DiGregorio has an infectious laugh and a smile that radiates an “I can beat this” optimism. Her friends say she’s unflaggingly upbeat, and is handling her most recent health crisis with the serenity of a saint.
“She is a hero,” said Aaron Brewington, her boyfriend of 21/2 years. “She’s remained positive through this whole thing, and actually comforts other people even though she’s the one with the tumor.”
Dotty Sharp, one of her closest friends, said she’s been amazed by DiGregorio’s calm in the midst of her ordeal. “She’s been so cool and collected through this whole thing,” she said. “I’ve never heard her say, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ Her attitude is more like, ‘OK, this is what I have to do, so let’s do it.’”
Caption:
Rachel DiGregorio is battling a brain tumor and is going to undergo treatment soon. So she decided to get her hair cut short and donate it to Locks of Love before it started to fall out from her proton therapy treatment.