Heidi Miller was an active teenager who enjoyed soccer, running and dancing. She lived for soccer, the sport she had played since first grade. In 1992, during her senior year of high school, Heidi's dreams of college and being a dental hygienist were put on hold when she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a type of cancer that starts in the lymph nodes and spreads to other parts of the body.

Heidi will never forget the moment her doctor told her she had cancer. "I thought to myself that he has to be wrong. Cancer is for old people. I quickly learned that cancer doesn't care how old you are, what color you are, what you do for a living, or what your future plans are," she says. Heidi went through a series of testing, staging and surgeries before beginning 15 weeks of chemotherapy to rid her body of the lymphoma.

As her fifth anniversary of being cancer-free was approaching, Heidi was diagnosed with cancer for the second time. Unfortunately, this time the outcome was much less promising. "I had Ewing's Sarcoma; a fast growing cancer that spreads very quickly to other parts of the body. The tumor was wrapped around my spine and it was the size of a large man's fist," she explains. After five rounds of chemotherapy, surgeons removed three of Heidi's vertebrae and a large section around them, including a bundle of nerves that controls leg muscle function. The nerve damage required months of extensive physical therapy to get Heidi walking again.

Heidi was making progress with her chemotherapy and physical therapy, and had just started driving again in November 1997 when she was hit by a car full of teenagers. "I fractured two vertebrae that had not been fused and needed another surgery. During this surgery, they found a third type of cancer. I would have to go through more chemotherapy over the next five months," she says.

A large portion of Heidi's spine is now fused together, and she has limited movement. Before her most recent surgery in October 2003, Heidi had to wear shoe lifts and was unable to hold her body straight because of her weak spine. Walking exhausted her. New techniques in bone grafting have helped Heidi's spine heal. In her case, doctors used a paste of bone chips and pellets. Now her back, although still severely limited, is mostly straight and she no longer needs the shoe lifts. "I don't get as tired throughout the day and I am definitely not as self-conscious as I was before the surgery," she says.

Although she can walk again, Heidi is not able to bend, twist or lift anything over 20 pounds. It is a struggle for her to do everyday activities like tying her shoes, and she relies on others for many things. Her biggest challenge is not being able to play with her daughter the way other mothers play with their children.

Heidi has seen how far the treatments and surgeries available for bone cancer and trauma have come in the years since her initial diagnosis. She owes her life to the technologies available and knows continued musculoskeletal research funding can only help patients like her. "When I look back to when I first started my journey with cancer and where research was at that stage versus where it is now, it is truly amazing to me," says Heidi. "They have come so far and I can only imagine what the future holds with continued funding."