How I Found My Way to MD Anderson

How We Got to MD Anderson

Not a lot of people know the story of how we ended up at MD Anderson. Funny enough, they were actually the very first place I called… and also the last to get back to me.

When I got the diagnosis, all I really knew was:
a) What is Angiosarcoma?
b) OMG, do not Google Angiosarcoma
c) Okay… I Googled it
d) Panic
e) I need the absolute best team on this

And to be honest, the Googling only made it worse. Everything I found felt like a death sentence. What I’ve learned since is that because it’s so rare, most of what’s online are the scariest, most extreme stories. People who are fighting really hard. People who are grieving. The ones that get shared. It’s overwhelming when you’re just trying to understand what’s happening to you.

Right after we heard the news, Zac looked at me and said, “What do we do now?” And I just knew—we needed to reach out to everyone we knew. Every connection, every recommendation, every friend-of-a-friend. I needed to find the best.

I’ve been living in the South since 2017, but to be honest, I hadn’t really heard much about MD Anderson before. Growing up, Mayo Clinic was what I knew. It’s in my home state, and they actually cured my grandpa John’s cancer about 20 years ago. So that was the gold standard in my head.

Before we committed to MD Anderson, I had actually decided to start treatment in Nashville at Sarah Cannon Cancer Center. They had a fierce, amazing team—people I instantly liked and trusted. It felt right. I was scheduled to start treatment there the following week.

But then MD Anderson called.

It was their Sarcoma Clinic. They said, “We want you here next week.” I remember freezing and saying, “I’m supposed to start treatment here on Monday… what am I supposed to do?” Twenty minutes later, one of my future doctors from MDA personally called me. She walked me through their plan, their approach. And then she said something I’ll never forget: “We treat this type of cancer every single day.”

Every day.
That was it. That was the moment.

This is what they do. This is what they know. I needed to be there.

My 2 Days at MDA

To get to Houston, I drove from Nashville to DFW, Texas, with our two dogs in tow. Zac’s mom and stepmom had offered to take them for as long as we needed—something I’ll always be grateful for. From there, we made our way to Houston to begin the next part of this journey.

My first afternoon at MD Anderson was: lab work and a PET/CT scan. If you’ve ever gone through cancer or a scary diagnosis, then you probably know that scan-anxiety is very real. Even though my last PET/CT just two weeks earlier had come back clean (no signs of spread), I still sat there absolutely terrified of the “what ifs.” It’s hard to quiet your mind when so much feels unknown.

I was in the waiting room, trying to hold it together, when I suddenly heard... the theme song from The Price Is Right? I looked around—was I hallucinating? And then over the speaker I heard: “We now call down Kendra Wallerrrrr!”

I kid you not—a nurse was standing there holding his phone, blaring the theme music, and holding a tiny Plinko board. What did I win? A sticker. And honestly? It was the best prize I could’ve received in that moment.

The nurse told me he just does it to make people laugh. He has no idea how much I needed that little laugh. After months of being scared, overwhelmed, and doing everything in my power to stay strong, that tiny moment reminded me I could still smile. I could still laugh. And that meant everything. That was my very first interaction at MD Anderson—and somehow, every interaction since has continued to meet me right where I am.

Day two brought more testing—MDA takes their time to do things right—and I started meeting the team. First up was my main oncology team: Dr. Vinod Ravi and Sudha Yalamanchili, FNP.

Meeting Sudha was emotional. I thanked her for taking the time to call me the week before and walk me through their plan. I told her that she was the reason I was here, getting treated at MD Anderson. We both teared up in that moment. It was such a simple but powerful exchange—one of those full-circle moments that hits you right in the heart.

Then I met Dr. Ravi. One of the very first things he said was:
“So, we have a very treatable problem here…”

And just like that, something shifted in me. That was the first time since getting my diagnosis that I felt real hope. He went on to explain the what, the why, and the how—and how the team of surgeons, radiologists, and oncologists had already been “talking behind my back” (his words!) to build the right treatment plan. My job, he said?

“Zen the cancer away.”

Yes, really. That line came straight from Dr. Ravi—and it’s the reason I named this site/blog what I did.

I have been diving headfirst back into my spirituality—reading, praying, meditating, talking to the universe, doing anything I could to get my energy and mindset in the right place. And somehow, all these little moments and synchronicities felt like confirmation:

I was exactly where I was meant to be.