Debbie Rolen
Civitas News Service
Recently, Sarah Erwin Vance followed advice from friend and co-worker Beth Shawver and applied for a Mommy Makeover to be done on the Live with Kelly and Michael Show in New York City. The young mother is excited to have won and is packing her bags to leave on Thursday.
Sarah said, “I am very, very, very excited. I have been telling everyone I’ve seen about it. I’ve been on cloud nine since I found out.”
As a teenager, Sarah suffered from leukemia and didn’t know if she would ever be a mother. After treatment including chemotherapy, she has been in remission for the past 12 years.
“I thank God I am a cancer survivor and I am so grateful to be a mom. I am so blessed,” said Sarah.
Sarah’s sister Brianne Erwin has always been there for her and even had a wig made of her own hair for Sarah. Since then, she and Sarah have both given their hair to Locks of Love many times. Sarah says her hair is almost long enough to donate again.
“I told them that when I applied,” said Sarah, “I can’t wait to see what they do with my hair.”
Sarah is an occupational therapist at Logan Regional Medical Center. Her husband Joseph is a Surface Mine Engineer at Mt. Laurel. The couple has been married four years and have an eight-month-old baby girl, Anna Jean.
Part of the application process was to write an essay about what the applicant wanted to change. She an sister Brianne worked together on the application and essay.
“I wrote that I was a cancer survivor and didn’t know if I could ever be a mom. I told them I had been in remission 12 years, that I volunteer for the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life, that my sister had a wig made of her hair for me and both of us have donated our hair to Locks of Love many times,” Sarah said and then continued, “I wrote that between my work uniform and my mommy uniform, I don’t have much room for sophistication or maturity in my wardrobe and if I won, it would be a wonderful way to celebrate being a cancer survivor and a mother — the two things I am most grateful for in this life.”
Sarah is looking forward to the trip, hopefully with her husband in tow, and says she will make West Virginia proud on national television. The show will pay trip expenses for the couple, who haven’t been away from their daughter since she was born.
“Two wonderful grandmothers are going to take care of the baby,” says Sarah, “I would love to take her, but I just don’t think it would work with all I will be doing there—which I don’t even know what all I will be doing yet.”
Sarah will leave Thursday and return home on Tuesday. She isn’t sure, but thinks the show will air on Monday. She says she will be updating her Facebook status while she is there to keep all of her friends and family here informed on what is happening.
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