Aubrey's Medical Fund for Cancer
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The doctors took a new chest x-ray following up with another EKG just to be sure. The EKG showed as normal again and healthy, but they said the fluid build-up that they had seen before had worsened. In fact it had became a sack of fluid surrounding my heart. So they then referred me to a cardiologist that same day to get a Echocardiogram(ultrasound of my heart). From that ultrasound the cardiologist discovered not only did I have a build-up of fluid accumulating around my heart he noticed what he thought was a tumor by my Thymus which is located center of my chest that was the same size as my heart. So he then referred me to another Doctor at the Hospital who then took a CT scan of my chest. Sure enough of the scan it showed I had some sort of tumor in my chest but it was unsure of what kind and if it was cancerous or non-cancerous. So he then referred me to a specialist in the Eugene area for cancers.
I went into meet yet another Doctor hoping I would get relief and finally find out what I had and what I could possibly do about it. His name was Dr Trezona and he was at Cascade Surgical Oncology and to me it gave me a little relief hearing from other Doctos that he is very good at what he does and would be considerred as one of the best in his specialties in the state. At that appointment he talked a little bit of what type he thought I may or may not have. He spoke with me on his specialty and showed me my imaging from my previous CT scan which was a large unfimiliar mass the size of my fist in my chest. To him it was still unknown and he needed more information so he then referred me back to the Hospital to get yet more testing, a biopsy.
It took another week and a half before I finally got the results back from the biopsy...by then my symptoms worsened even more to the point of not being able to sleep without sitting up or else I was not able to breath, I could hardly walk I was so tired all the time and very exausted, my chest pains had worsened and I had gotten to the point I could hardly eat any food yet keep it down.
Dr Trezona then had me come right in to his office as soon as he got the test results back from the biopsy. He told me I had cancer....I at the time had no clue exactly what that entailed I just knew that it was something that could be life threatening and my life would dramatically change after it. He then talked more about my kind of cancer and said he wouldn't go over the exact details because my specific kind of cancer is not one that he specializes in to treat and that he would have to refer me to another Hospital with a oncologist who specializes in my kind of cancer. Dr trezona said with the symptoms I am now showing and what he has seen on the imaging it is very urgent for me to go meet with my new Doctor right away. So again I went from Doctor to Doctor...
I arrived later that day with my families support at Riverbend Hospital to meet with Dr Sharman. Dr Sharman spoke with me and my family about what kind of cancer I had...It was Non-Hodgkins B Cell Lymphoma. For those of you who didn't know like me it is a cancer of the blood cells in the lymph glands. He said there was two types for which I could have which is slow growing or aggressive lymphomas. He then told me I had the aggressive type that require intensive treatments, with some having a good prospect for a permanent cure (he thinks a 70-90% chance for cure rate for me after treament and those are very good odds). Well then I heard a lot more about my cancer and what it does but what then was the plan...
Treatment: The Doctor said his plan for treatment was that I would be hospitalized for my very first round of chemo which would last five days, but that I would likely be in there for one week. Then I would have six more cycles of chemotherapy following the hospital one. So that in all would require a total of seven months of chemotherapy. I would go in and do chemo five days straight 24/7 then have 21 days off for recovery then repeat the cycle again. At the very end of my treatments we would then re-evaluate and see if it worked or if we should take more steps...
Today is Wednesday April 15, 2015 and I am on my second round of chemo. I finished up my first cycle of chemotherapy a little over three weeks ago. It didn't quiet go as planned when I was in the hospital. I finished my week of chemo then ended up getting very sick in the hospital and became Neutropenic, which means an abnormally low level of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell. When you are going through chemotherapy it kills not only cancer cells but healthy living cells. White blood cells helps your body fight off infection and when you become neutropenic and your white blood cell count is way down you no longer have a good immune system to fight off infection. So I then became more susceptible and got ear infections, oral thrush, urninary tract infections, and blood clots. I then was admitted even longer in the hospital until the doctor thought I was okay to go home. I ended up being hospitalized for two weeks before I got sent home. I ended up shaving all my hair off:( because it was all starting to fall out... it was very difficult for me and sad. I hope that one day I can afford to get a nice wig that looks natural and makes me feel more confident.
I still have a total of five more sessions of chemotherapy to go through after my current cycle which ends Friday the 17th of April. I luckily have insurance through my Father that is covering some of the bills, but as you could imagine being hospitalized and going through chemotherapy is very very expensive. I have now been out of work for a month but am hoping I can go back soon even during treatments so that I can pay some of my bills.
Anything would be very much appreciated if it is a donation or even just a prayer:) Thank you for reading a little bit of my life challenges that I am going through...or if you have helpful advice please post below I would love to read. <3
As i face more of my challenges along the road through the rest of my journey I will post updates...So please do keep reading.
I went into meet yet another Doctor hoping I would get relief and finally find out what I had and what I could possibly do about it. His name was Dr Trezona and he was at Cascade Surgical Oncology and to me it gave me a little relief hearing from other Doctos that he is very good at what he does and would be considerred as one of the best in his specialties in the state. At that appointment he talked a little bit of what type he thought I may or may not have. He spoke with me on his specialty and showed me my imaging from my previous CT scan which was a large unfimiliar mass the size of my fist in my chest. To him it was still unknown and he needed more information so he then referred me back to the Hospital to get yet more testing, a biopsy.
It took another week and a half before I finally got the results back from the biopsy...by then my symptoms worsened even more to the point of not being able to sleep without sitting up or else I was not able to breath, I could hardly walk I was so tired all the time and very exausted, my chest pains had worsened and I had gotten to the point I could hardly eat any food yet keep it down.
Dr Trezona then had me come right in to his office as soon as he got the test results back from the biopsy. He told me I had cancer....I at the time had no clue exactly what that entailed I just knew that it was something that could be life threatening and my life would dramatically change after it. He then talked more about my kind of cancer and said he wouldn't go over the exact details because my specific kind of cancer is not one that he specializes in to treat and that he would have to refer me to another Hospital with a oncologist who specializes in my kind of cancer. Dr trezona said with the symptoms I am now showing and what he has seen on the imaging it is very urgent for me to go meet with my new Doctor right away. So again I went from Doctor to Doctor...
I arrived later that day with my families support at Riverbend Hospital to meet with Dr Sharman. Dr Sharman spoke with me and my family about what kind of cancer I had...It was Non-Hodgkins B Cell Lymphoma. For those of you who didn't know like me it is a cancer of the blood cells in the lymph glands. He said there was two types for which I could have which is slow growing or aggressive lymphomas. He then told me I had the aggressive type that require intensive treatments, with some having a good prospect for a permanent cure (he thinks a 70-90% chance for cure rate for me after treament and those are very good odds). Well then I heard a lot more about my cancer and what it does but what then was the plan...
Treatment: The Doctor said his plan for treatment was that I would be hospitalized for my very first round of chemo which would last five days, but that I would likely be in there for one week. Then I would have six more cycles of chemotherapy following the hospital one. So that in all would require a total of seven months of chemotherapy. I would go in and do chemo five days straight 24/7 then have 21 days off for recovery then repeat the cycle again. At the very end of my treatments we would then re-evaluate and see if it worked or if we should take more steps...
Today is Wednesday April 15, 2015 and I am on my second round of chemo. I finished up my first cycle of chemotherapy a little over three weeks ago. It didn't quiet go as planned when I was in the hospital. I finished my week of chemo then ended up getting very sick in the hospital and became Neutropenic, which means an abnormally low level of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell. When you are going through chemotherapy it kills not only cancer cells but healthy living cells. White blood cells helps your body fight off infection and when you become neutropenic and your white blood cell count is way down you no longer have a good immune system to fight off infection. So I then became more susceptible and got ear infections, oral thrush, urninary tract infections, and blood clots. I then was admitted even longer in the hospital until the doctor thought I was okay to go home. I ended up being hospitalized for two weeks before I got sent home. I ended up shaving all my hair off:( because it was all starting to fall out... it was very difficult for me and sad. I hope that one day I can afford to get a nice wig that looks natural and makes me feel more confident.
I still have a total of five more sessions of chemotherapy to go through after my current cycle which ends Friday the 17th of April. I luckily have insurance through my Father that is covering some of the bills, but as you could imagine being hospitalized and going through chemotherapy is very very expensive. I have now been out of work for a month but am hoping I can go back soon even during treatments so that I can pay some of my bills.
Anything would be very much appreciated if it is a donation or even just a prayer:) Thank you for reading a little bit of my life challenges that I am going through...or if you have helpful advice please post below I would love to read. <3
As i face more of my challenges along the road through the rest of my journey I will post updates...So please do keep reading.
Organiser
Aubrey Summers
Organiser
Springfield, OR
