Rebecca's cancer journey

Rebecca began having strange symptoms at the early age of 12 years old. She described what felt like lightening running across her nose and under her eyes. This happened several times a day, but nothing was noticeable until about a month later, she began having red spots appear on her chest and her hands would tingle and her lips would swell up. These things never lasted more than a few minutes, so we didn't think much about it, until they began happening more often and lasting longer. She was taken to her pediatrician who checked her and said that it was nothing to be concerned about because it was probably anxiety. We left the office feeling pretty good, thinking she was going through some changes as she was growing up. As time went on, the symptoms continued and did last longer and over time became unbearable. We took her to our primary care doctor, who checked her and also said it was anxiety. He prescribed the lowest dose of celexa and told her that she could take this because it was gentle enough for a baby. We left the office and she took the celexa as we were driving home. She began projectile vomiting before we could make the 15 minute drive home. This was when she was about 15 yrs old. When we got home she cried really hard because she was frustrated and scared, not knowing what was happening to her to cause these things. As time passed, it became impossible to get out of bed each morning without flushing (meaning her entire body would swell up like an allergic reaction to peanuts)and the flushing didn't go away until she vomited. This went on for several months, as we kept going back to the primary care doctor who would refer us to multiple specialist such as an allergist, a cardiologist, a psychiatrists, and multiple other specialist. Then one day she had enough. She was determined to go back to the doctor and get the celexa in hopes that her body would get used to it and eventually the flushing and vomiting would stop. On November 23, 2013 we went to the primary care doctor who had originally prescribed the celexa and (by Gods grace) there was a young medical student working in there this particular day. The primary care doctor said that this student will be seeing her this time. The medical student listened to Rebecca (who was 19 yrs old now) explain what had been going on for the past 7 years. He seemed to understand and asked if he could run some special tests. He drew blood and sent us home with orders to do a 24 hour urine specimen and asked us to bring it back the next morning. He wanted to see us back in the office the first thing Monday morning. We were so excited to have someone that seemed to understand, that we went to lunch and brought him a lunch gift card. When we came back the next Monday, he said it was exactly what he suspected. We said GREAT! Now tell us what is going on. He explained that the test that he ordered were to test Rebecca's serotonin levels. He said the normal levels are usually between 101 to 283 ng/ml and Rebecca's levels were close to 3000 in both the blood and urine. He went on to explain thats why she was unable to take celexa without vomiting. Celexa increases the serotonin levels. Rebecca only took the celexa twice but she would vomit every morning right time she woke up. The med student explained that when she woke up each morning her body would have what is known as carcinoid crisis syndrome, which means her heart would begin racing very fast and she would have an increased secretion of histamine, causing her body to feel like it is going to explode unless she vomited which released this build up. He explained that carcinoid cancer is very rare and very hard to diagnose. It mimics other illnesses causing it to be misdiagnosed for many years. He also said that doctors are not taught very much about this in medical school and its most often found by accident in elderly people when they are having surgery for some other reason. We were sent to University hospital in Augusta, Ga to get a 3 day octreoscan. This scan showed where the tumors were and that it was stage 4 because it had already spread from the small bowel to her liver. We go to an oncologist in Augusta for  monthly chemo shots to control the serotonin release. We were sent to see a carcinoid specialist at Vanderbilt-Ingram cancer center in Nashville, TN.  for surgery to de-bulk the tumors. January 22, 2014 Rebecca had surgery to remove some of the carcinoid cancer tumors from her illium and her liver and her gallbladder.  From November 23, 2013 to January 23, 2014 we made 3 trips to Vanderbilt. As of August 2015 the specialist that we saw in Nashville has relocated to Denver, Colorado. This requires that we fly because its too far to drive. Rebecca has to make this trip every 6 months to get special scans that are not available anywhere within 500 miles of the Augusta area. As of today there's no cure for this cancer. Rebecca will eventually have more surgeries because the tumors are always growing (hopefully slow growing). Our goal is to raise funds to get to the Rocky Mountain cancer center twice a year in Denver, CO. and to pay for the chemo shot. Rebecca has recently returned to USC Aiken as a freshman thanks to the help of the Vocational Rehabilitation center. Any amount donated will be used towards the flight, rental car, hotel, hospital stay for scans and medical expenses. When you give, you are helping her to truly live life as normal as possible. If  possible, it would be a blessing to find a cure for this cancer. Please make a donation toTHE HEALING NET FOUNDATION.ORG   We are very grateful to you for your help.