(Verb)
- Bury or drown beneath a huge mass.
- Defeat completely.
After two very long months (Lauren's last chemo dose was January 21), we finally got the green flag that the cryoablation was happening. It really was a very long two months trying to work this out and I can't tell you how beautifully it came together. There was a lot of back and forth, especially with the four doctors. As luck would have it, Lauren will have two of the BEST Interventional Radiologists working on her and we couldn't be happier. These doctors have really high success rates with high risk recurrence patients, some 10+ years out with no new disease. We are really hopeful that this procedure is going to work. Aside from some residual side effects from the past treatments, Lauren is probably the healthiest that she has ever been which makes her an even better candidate for this procedure. Unlike surgery, this procedure will also initiate a natural response from her immune system, which should take care of any microscopic disease left in her body.
We had discussed in depth on whether to have the procedure(s) done at the same time, 24 hours apart, two weeks apart and one month apart. We finally settled on two weeks apart. Once the wheels started to roll, that good ole' overwhelming feeling started to rear its ugliness and landed me in bed for almost two days last week. Stress in a diabetic works against the body and I was left feeling crummy, with ketones present in my urine. That is not a good thing for a diabetic as ketones mean that your body is attacking itself and can sometimes get you an admit to the hospital to treat if you cannot get it under control. What I was most stressed about - paying for not only one trip to Alabama, but two.
At the suggestion of an awesome friend and cancer survivor (Amanda!!!!), I set up a fundraiser online through Give Forward. As many of my friends know, I have a really hard time asking for help, much less asking for money. It really wasn't the route I wanted to take, but at the time, I felt I had no other choice. My family isn't wealthy. I don't have anyone that I can turn to for that kind of financial assistance. We live paycheck to paycheck, as most cancer families do. Our savings was gone a long time ago and we've sold anything of value to cover living expenses. What happened next amazed me and frankly restored my faith in humanity. Up until last week, I really thought that most people wanted to just sweep childhood cancer under the rug and play like its not real. But people really do rally to help others and our family will be eternally grateful for the help that we have received in a little more than one week. With the help of social media like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, we have raised almost $4,000 and both trips have been booked. The lodging was donated by Karen Bobe, who owns Sunset Properties in Gulf Shores, through Melissa Byrd, who lost her son Jensen to cancer when he was only five years old. We also received assistance from The Carrie Premsagar Foundation and The For Kids Foundation plus I am still receiving checks in the mail from friends and family. AMAZED is one word that can describe my feelings. HUMBLED is the other. Jim said last night, "When we can, I want to pay these people back." =) Somehow, someway, we will pay it forward. Together, we are stronger!
So ... Lauren and I will be leaving on Monday, April 1st, to head to Alabama to have the first of the two procedures done. We will need to stay a couple of days for follow-up care, home for a week, then back again on April 15th. Rinse. Repeat. We will follow this procedure with high dose immunotherapy and hopefully keep Lauren in a NED status for two years. Once we pass that two year mark, we can breath a deep sigh of relief and not worry as much about recurrences. We could be making medical history here and I couldn't be more excited.
To add to the overwhelming feeling is the fact that my son Tyler is graduating in two months! There are activities to pay for, college applications to fill out, financial aid assistance to submit and I feel like I just keep adding to the list. His prom is tomorrow night of which I will have to succumb to the fact that I will only get to see him and his girlfriend Dani quickly as we stop by the venue on our way back from our St. Baldrick's event down in Oakland (a one day round trip). Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and this is one of those times.
Speaking of St. Baldrick's, Lauren decided yesterday that she would be shaving as well. She has always been the reason why we shave and has always been our cheerleader on the sidelines but this year, she has been moved by the show of support in our childhood cancer community and she wants to show her gratitude and also show other kids with cancer that bald is beautiful! This girl continues to amaze me. We should all aspire to #LoveLikeLola <3
Last but by far not least, Lauren wrote a blog post for the awesome peeps over at Stupid Cancer on how much she loved the OMG2012 Summit for AYA's in Las Vegas last year. It was posted to Act.MTV.com - "MTV Act is where fist-pumping and lending a helping hand collide. We raise a glass to the risk-takers and change-makers, and make it easy for everyone to take action - right now - on issues they care about." A week later, we found out that The Huffington Post wanted to cross-post it and of course we said YES! She is looking forward to contributing more to the Generation WHY side of the Huff Post in the future.
As I draw this blog post to a close, I want to again thank each and every person who has helped our family along the way, whether you helped back in the beginning with meals and the fundraisers and blood drives we did in California, to the AWESOME new friends we have made since moving to Reno, we are so humbled and grateful for your assistance. I will be closing the fundraiser at Give Forward in the next day or so, as we have reached our goal! Without the support of friends like you, we would have never been able to do this and we would be slowly running out of time to treat Lauren's cancer.
This is an edit of a photo Jim took of Lauren when they were hiking
Lauren, yesterday, at lunch with Jane, one of her chemo nurses that no longer works at the clinic here in Reno
If you are looking for more frequent updates on Lauren's treatment, you can like our Facebook page and keep up there. I will try to update my blog more regularly, but for the month of April, I will barely have time so Facebook will be the easiest way to keep up =)
Happy Easter!
peace & <3
-cherri
