2 years ago
AUBURN, CA -- It was 1991, six years after Auburn resident, DeeDee Kindley graduated from Danville's Monte Vista High School. Kindley was ready to take on the world, until she received a devastating diagnosis.
"I had a tumor the size of a grapefruit wrapped around my heart," said Kindley.
The then, vibrant 23 year old couldn't believe she had cancer at such a young age.
"It was overwhelming, I was devastated."
Kindley, wasn't alone, six other students from the Bay Area high school's graduating class of 1985 had also been diagnosed with various types of cancer.
Beth Bennett learned she had breast cancer. "I thought I was just one in a million," said Bennett. "I was the youngest person I knew with cancer," the Monte Vista High School graduate added.
The high number of students diagnosed with the deadly disease sparked a full scale investigation into the cause of what was being called a mysterious cancer cluster.
After months of investigation the California Department of Health Services could not pinpoint a cause, but determined the number of students in the 1985 graduating class with cancer was eight times higher than normal for students in the 15-24 age group.
Kindley didn't know what caused the cancer cluster, but was determined to survive. While in the hospital, trying to cope she wrote a daily journal detailing her experience. Those painful memories are now a book called "Heart Knots - The Story of a True Survivor." Even while enduring intense chemo-therapy to shrink her cancerous tumor, Kindley knew someday she was going to help people.
"I just have faith that it reaches the people it needs to," Kindley shared. The book is her survival guide for people with cancer. She hopes the book will answer some of the many questions a newly diagnosed cancer patient might have.
Kindley is now a career planning instructor at Rocklin's Sierra College, pursuing a life-long dream of helping others find their passion.
Click here to learn more about the book.
News10/KXTV
