My life, like many people, is full of stories of accomplishment over adversity. I would like to share one such story with the you the reader of this blog.
One evening during my freshman season at BYU I was enjoying time with some friends. After a good joke and a hardy laugh I felt something pop in my upper back. The pain was enough that I sought medical attention at the nearest emergency room. After reviewing the situation they diagnosed a "pulled muscle", gave me some pain killers, and sent me home. This pain endured during gymnastics practice, but I was unable to sit out as my team was relying on me to be ready for Regionals. We traveled via airline to our meet and this seemed to increase the pain to the point of tears. I competed in the meet and provided the needed scores for my team to qualify for Nationals. Upon returning home I sought a second opinion from our team doctor who with a grimacing face suggested that we head to the emergency room. The diagnosis was a pneumothorax, or in layman's terms, a collapsed lung. They performed a tube thoracostomy (chest tube) to relieve the pressure in the lung cavity. This process took two days before the lung function was restored to normal and I was still able to train and compete at Nationals. Through this experience I learned that I could exercise courage and determination to push myself through difficult circumstances. During my career as a gymnast I endured five shoulder surgeries, two of which resulted in collapsed lungs requiring hospital stays.
I know that we all have the strength inside of us to overcome adversity and we just need the courage to use it.
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Janene Christensen
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About Janene
Janene was born and raised in Utah County, so naturally she feels a strong connection to this community. Raised on a small farm she learned the value of hard work early and credits this to her success in many areas of her life. She is a Bachelor of Health Sciences graduate of Brigham Young University. While at BYU, she "walked on" the Women's Gymnastics team and earned a full scholarship while competing on a national level several times . She has continued that passion through coaching gymnastics and feels strongly about improving the lives of youth through sports. Janene is committed to health and fitness as demonstrated by her 5:30am workout schedule and recently finishing her first marathon. She is currently training for a figure and fitness competition later this year. Through all of this she treasures her roles as wife and mother the most. Janene Lay is the proud mother of five children and wife to Mark Lay an Information Systems Manager at a Fortune 500 company.
My Platform
My platform is Breast Cancer Research and Awareness. Of the many issues that I could address through my participation in the Mrs. Utah America Pageant, this one is personal. Last year my wonderful Grandmother succumbed to cancer which was first detected in her breasts.