Tiffany getting after it
 

Tiffany was born August 10, 1977 in Loma Linda, California. She spent time growing up in California and while a teen, she and her parents moved to Las Vegas. Tiffany loved Las Vegas. It wasn't the bright lights of the strip, the shows or the casino's. It was the weather that allowed her to ride her Honda sport bike year around! She longed for the streets and tracks and warm climate of Las Vegas.

Tiffany was the youngest of the family. She was the cutest little baby when mom brought her home; she only got cuter as a toddler! Dad took plenty of pictures to prove it!

 

Tiffany and Sean

 She was the sweetest little 7-year-old flower girl in her oldest sister Cindy's wedding; she loved throwing those flower petals. She was the broken hearted little girl when we lost our sister Mary Alice at 25 years old (second to oldest) to complications due to Juvenile Diabetes. She was the beautiful young lady who was a bridesmaid in her Sister Holly's wedding. She was daddy's little girl when he went fishing with her or piloted his airplane, once she was old enough dad actually taught her to fly and eventually she soloed herself! She even named her dog Cessna.

Leathers on, ready to go.
 

Her dog Cessna

  

Tiffany looking classy

Tiffany was the bossy kid who wanted fly it or drive it herself. She was mommy's baby girl, just as cute as any mom would want, they baked, they sewed and they colored. With the other kids being older it gave them precious time together. At a very young age Tiffany developed the attitude "move it or lose it". The older Tiffany got the more she wanted to fly it high, drive it fast, or shoot it straight! She loved guns, fast cars, fast bikes, and flying airplanes. We never knew how much of that attitude Tiffany would need to face the battle of her life. Tiffany grew up to be a model beautiful young woman at 5 foot 8 with striking dark hair and fair skin, she was beautiful and confident.

Tiffany and Cessna at the ranch.

  
  In January of 1999 Tiffany started feeling really tired. She was only 21 so it was not a feeling she was used to. She was working in the administration offices of a major Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and loved her job. A few weeks went by and Tiffany decided to see a Dermatologist about a mole that just didn't look right. It was itchy and puffy and had been bleeding.

Tiffany with friends and pro racers at Ducati party

Tiffany with pro racer Nicky Hayden and a friend

 The Dermatologist let Tiffany know that it could be the reason for her fatigue. They would immediately remove the mole and check for cancer. A week later the results were in. Tiffany in fact did have Melanoma, skin cancer.  
  With all of this going on Tiffany never stopped having the need for speed! She had gotten into sport bike riding and it was above all her first love. She wasn't giving it up for cancer. She rode as often as she could. She also got into web page design as a result of her down time. She became known in the cyber-world as sportbikegirl.com. On her web site Tiff promoted safe riding and the things closest to her heart, women on sport bikes and melanoma. She was shared her story with anyone who would log on. She has had over 200,000 hits on her web site. She had so many friends around the world. They would send cards and flowers wherever she might be having treatment, and stayed in touch via her website!

Tiffany at Laguna Seca

 From this point on Tiffany's life was never the same. The cancer was in her lymphnodes and still in the area surrounding the mole on her shin. During what was almost a three year fight with Malignant Melanoma Tiffany went through 7 surgeries, a year of interferon treatment, and then transferred to MD Anderson Cancer Institute in Houston Texas for more heavy doses of chemotherapy. This was beyond exhausting for her. Every other week from Las Vegas Nevada to Houston Texas, it was a trek, both physically and emotionally. With mom there for each and every little detail to care for her every need, and precious friends and family sitting days and nights in the room keeping watch while the chemo attacked her beautiful body. Dad would need to stay back and work to provide for mom and Tiffany; he would fly down at every opportunity.  
  As her hair began to fall out her weight fell too. Tiffany would fight hard to get back to normal when she returned to Vegas. Sometimes feeling well enough to ride behind a friend on her favorite sport bike, but not able to pilot her own! After a trip to MD Anderson Tiffany decided this would be her last trip. It was just too much. She decided that she would return to Las Vegas and her initial Doctors would again oversee her condition. Tiffany had decided at that point no more chemotherapy. She didn't know how much time she had, but whatever time she had it was going to be feeling the best she possibly could and enjoying her time.

Tiffany's last ride

 In June of 2001 she thought she might have endometriosis. The surgery was scheduled for the end of July. She had been through so much of this type of surgery it wasn't any big deal or didn't give any of us much concern, until…. The surgery was over and the Doctors said the cancer had spread to her female organs, they couldn't do anything else. They closed her up and sent her home and referred her back to her Oncologist.  
 

The end of August 2001 Tiffany was told she might have another 6 months or so to live. As dad, mom, Tiffany, Holly and myself sat in that Doctors office Tiffany bravely without hesitation, asked for the reality of the time she had left on this earth. She was stern, sharp, yet was very weak physically.

She took the news in a way that I know affected each of us in that room. Holly and I had been staying with her at home during this time, after the appointment, dad went to get the car, Holly and mom stayed in the Doctors office to ask questions and I walked out with dad and Tiffany.

Julia Vitarello and Vicky Smith of Ducati with Tiffany

Dad walked away to get the car, and as Tiffany sat in the wheel chair and I stood next to her she said, "Cindy, you know I won't see Christmas this year and you know it!" I responded by letting her know that the strength she had shown these past years had been too much for me to take any bets she wouldn't be around. I believed that with every breath I took ~ but all of us knew the reality that her frail body weighing about 80 pounds could only take so much. That was August 26th.

On August 28, 2001 Hospice arrived at my parents home to take care of the details. Heart wrenching wouldn't be the right words, but they're all I can come up with. The doctor had explained to Tiff he couldn't do anything else "the cat was out of the bag" and Hospice would now care for her.

Tiffany and Sean

 

Tiffany spent about another 6 weeks at home and mostly in bed. With her great strength she never complained, and I don't say that to be nice…. She never said "why me?" She did whatever it took to get herself up to use the restroom, take her medicines, drink liquids, and while she was awake we watched movies on DVD and even talked about heaven! I know my family would agree with me, these were difficult days for all of us, we all lived in different states, yet we wanted to be with her, and when one sister would leave, the other one would come and so on. When I would leave we would hug and kiss and she would say "now when will you be back, and thank you for taking such good care of me". I know Tiffany treasured the time she spent with her family. Tiffany even talked about how she consoled our brother who was having a hard time dealing with her condition. She told him "it'll be ok…just chill" as he wept for her.

Tiffany with pro Ducati racer, Steve Rapp.

  
 

We counted it a blessing to get up with her in the middle of the night, or run up and down the stairs all day. Listen by the monitor to make sure she was breathing and give her back massages until our hands couldn't move anymore! We just wanted to help take the pain out of her lower back where the cancer had now spread.


We'd watch movies as long as she would stay awake and watch them! Her mind was still very much in tact. She remembered movie lines, and movie details like she had just seen the movie. We even were able to share the details of September 11th and the attack on America, when she would wake up after she found out about that, she wanted to know more and be brought up to speed on the event.

Tiffany at Laguna Seca

Tiffany's last picture

Tiffany in Las Vegas, July 2001.

One day while talking to mom she said, when the time comes I want just dad and I here. That's exactly how it was. Tiffany succumbed to Malignant Melanoma on October 8, 2001. At about 5am, weighing about 65 pounds and still chatting with dad and mom. She just didn't wake up that Monday morning.

It had been a week since I had last seen her. When I left for the airport we asked her if she needed anything, she responded by saying oh…."Just a cure for cancer and a million bucks!" That was Tiffany. Holly had just left her the day before and I was due to return that next week, I did return just a little earlier than planned, but Tiffany had left for heaven! I had just missed her. Most of the family had been there those past 8 weeks or so at one time or another.

Tiffany taught us all something; she maintained her dignity, her respect for herself and other people and faced reality head on.

Our goal is to honor her wishes and work to inform people about the serious dangers of the sun, funny looking moles, the importance of sunscreen, and most of all - this disease has no special preference . It will attack men and women at any age.

Tiffany' was the originator of this saying because it applied to the track - she never knew it would apply to her life "Anyone can ride fast in a straight line, it only counts in the twisties." She really rode out the twisties.

Tiffany with her canyon-carving buddies in Las Vegas