I have been asked to share more details of my story for consideration in fundraising events for my family, but its also to provide hope for any family that has gone through or currently in the battle....My name is Kay and I am the mom of 5 kids ranging in age from 20 to 7, I work full time for Garber Buick and couldnt love my job more. Here is my story.....For a couple of years I never quite felt right, I had alot of stomach and GI problems but noone could figure out what was going on and quite honestly between being a mom and the primemary bread winner in my family I never took much time to get medical help, seems a mom always takes care of everyone else but herself. In April of 2013 I started to feel really sick most of the time, I went in and out of Covenant hospital and they just kept blowing me off, never did any tests and handed me a prescription for Xanax and said I was over emotional, they even had me convinced of it, I was 2 weeks away from getting re-married and thought maybe there right I am a nervous bride. My husband and I got married April 20, 2013 in Las Vegas and the whole time we were there I was sick, I couldnt go to the bathroom, my stomach was killing me. When we returned home a week later I was still sick but refused to go to the hospital because I was so afraid of them just telling me again that it was just in my head. 3 weeks after I got married my new husband (James) had enough of me being in pain and insisted I go to the hospital. This time we went to Midland hospital, my stomach was swollen and you could see the outline of my intestines from the outside. They immediatly did a CT scan and saw a blockage, they tried to act casual as they were admitting me but I knew by the looks on there faces that something was very wrong. For the next 24 hours I went under test after test and the next day was scheduled for surgery. When I went into surgery I had no idea that when I came out of it I would hear the words, You have stage 4 terminal cancer. Noone should ever have to hear those words. Once they opened me up they saw my appendix was full of cancer, my colon was as well as the lining to my stomach, they said it had probably been growing for years and noone caught it. They took out my appendix, my cecum and almost my whole large intestine. I was in pain, miserable, horrible pain. We met with the oncologist that day and came up with a plan, it wasnt a nice plan, it wasnt a plan I wanted to face. Undergo huge doses of experimental chemotherapy or die within months, and the chemo was a roll of the dice, maybe it would give me a year. That was also the day I found out I would be a grandma for the first time, how could this be happening? How can I be being told I would be a grandma but wouldnt survive to see him grow up? It was also Mothers Day, I can still see that entire day in slow motion. The look on my kids, husband and parents faces, it haunts me, I began chemo immediatly and spent the whole summer of 2013 sick as a dog, I have to say I have the most amazing family ever, between my kids, husband, parents, friends and co-workers I never faced it alone. September 7 2013 was the most amazing day ever, a scan came back and it came back CLEAN, 100% CLEAN! Everyone was in shock, the doctors were stunned, stage 4 colon cancer is a death sentence and not only have I survived it but I beat it! My grandson was born that day, I left the doctors office flying high that I was better and went right to the maternity ward to witness my miracle. He is my whole familys miracle, his ultrasound pictures hung next to my bed all summer right at eye level, when the chemo was kicking my ass and I was bedridden I looked at those photos and knew I had to fight. I had 5 of my own kids to fight for as well but something about new life brought hope. From September to March was great, I was tired alot from what I had been through but I was back to work and loving life, things were starting to get back to normal for my family, then the familiar pain returned... For a couple weeks I ignored it, I thought maybe it was just in my head this time, I must be paradoid. Our 1 year wedding anniversary was coming up and I knew if I went to the doctor that my life would be changing again, I was loving normal life, I didnt want it to end. A couple weeks after the pain started again the people closest to me in my life convinced me to go in.The doctor ordered a CT scan and my best friend Mary went in with me to get the results, in my heart I already knew it was bad. The tumors were back and agressivly, it had spread to my ovaries, spleen and diaphram. My oncologist Dr. Hurtubise, who I happen to think is the best doctor ever didnt know what to do, my case was rare and he knew I needed something cutting edge to survive this battle. He sent me to NIH, which is the National Institute of Health and it houses the National Cancer Institute. They confirmed the tumors were spreading and agreed to take my case, to be treated there is a blessing, people come from all over the world for just a chance they might treat them. The surgery I will be undergoing is 14 hours followed by an internal chemo bath, they described it as brutal. Surgery was scheduled for May 6th and the doctors gave there blessing that I could go on our anniversary trip. From April 17 to April 22 my husband and I enjoyed relaxing and honestly just each others company, our first year of marriage was hard, 90% of it was my husband having to be my caretaker, which he never complained. Today as I write this I am sitting next to piles of laundry avoiding putting them in a suitcase because I leave tomorrow morning, surgery is on Tuesday and I will be in the hospital until May 18. I have spent the past 3 days hugging co-workers, friends and family. Today was the hardest, it was they day I had to hug my kids goodbye. With the expense of out of state surgery they will have to stay home. My mom cried, she handed me her rosary and I remembered I also someones child....
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 23:45:18 +0000
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