Help Nat Kick Ovarian Cancers Ass
Doação protegida
I'd like to introduce you to my wife Natali who is 39 years young. I'm not religious by choice but I know there are Angels because I married one. She's a pretty accomplished one at that. She's saved my life, twice (once literally and once figuratively), and she's given me 3 wonderful children: Lily Linda(13 years old, middle name is my moms first name), Connor Frank (11 years old, middle name is Nat's fathers first name) and Jack Rutger (9 years old, middle name is dervived from my maternal ancestry). Oh, and of course our Boxer Lucy Piper (4 years old).
Natali was suddenly diagnosed with what ended up being Stage 3c Ovarian Cancer. The good news is that they were thinking Stage 4 based on the initial CT scan. They put her into surgery a week after the CT scan and did a complete radical hysterectomy, cancer mass debulking, removed her spleen and had to take a few pieces of her liver out but thankfully not so much to make it non-functional. The good news on that is that they didn't have to remove any of her lower GI, which was on the menu at first. The de-bulking part of the surgery was optimal. The growths were all large solid masses and they were able to remove 100% of what they could visually see. So far so good. Such a relative phrase, never before has my perception been so skewed on what counts as "good".
Chemo followed. Aggressive chemo. They installed IV and IP ports and her chemo started on a Monday with Taxol in the IV and Sisplatin in the IP on Tuesday. Then Taxol in the IP the next Monday. Then 13 days off. Rinse and repeat six times.
She made it through all 6 cycles! We found out part way through that most people don't make it through the Sisplatin because it's so intense. Most people make it through 1-3 of those treatments and then opt to discontinue them or are physically unable to continue them. Natali did all 6!
The reason we are asking for help raising money doesn't seem as dire as some of the people who need help that I have seen on this site. If you are one of those wonderful people who are donating a small amount of a limited income please give your money to another family that is having harder times than we are. While I was reading other people's entries for guidance on how to write this I wanted to whip out my credit card a dozen times at least. As much as we do need help, I wouldn't want to take away from someone who has NO health insurance or has had worse tragedies occur in their lives.
We are asking for help for the medical bills, medication and quality of life items that we need now and some that we don't know when we will need them. Right now it's not really clear how much this is all going to cost us. Some of the bills are starting to roll in and they are impressive already. Outside of just the medical are family mobility and operational costs. Then there is the cost of proper food and supplements that are not covered by insurance but have been clinically proven to help fight and kill cancer. I've started looking at the organic and whole food options, greens for juicing and foods with no artificial coloring and flavoring. These are all the difficult to quantify variables that I am trying to figure out. So, when I set the goal for $25K I have no idea if that is even going to come close to covering it, I doubt that it will. But I have to start somewhere and any help is going to move us forward.
So, why my wife you say? Why donate to her when there are so many very worthy people to donate to? I'll tell you who she is, what she does and what she has done to see if you feel the same way I do.
I was a wreck of a human being when I met her. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was cooking a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables at a friends apartment to try and cook him a healthy meal when another of his roommates came home with this girl, Natali. Our eyes met across the room and time stood still. I had always thought that those moments in movies where strangers lock eyes across a room and everything slows down was just movie magic. But it's not, and it wasn't. I was smitten.
I had just moved back to the Bay Area from New York. I had been moving across the country being a "bad boy" within various states like California, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York. Actually, I'm still not allowed back in the state of Colorado. Haha, but seriously, shhhh. My heart was broken from a terrible breakup, my spirit was broken from having to come live back at home with my parents. And my wallet was empty from spending it at the bar every night. Thank you Behans Irish Pub in Burlingame, you were my family for a short time!
I was living a life that would end in jails, institutions or death. But then my Angel fell. And she fell for me for reasons still unknown. I quit my life of "crime" and I quit drinking alcohol and smoking because of her. Not because she asked me to or tried to make me. But because being with her made me want to be a better man. I got a good job with computers and became successful at what I did. Always with her at my side. Always with her behind me pushing and behind me ready to catch me at any moment. When I had success and let it go to my head she forgave me my hubris and stupid choices. She showed me the path to true love and happiness. Then, she gave me my first born, my princess, my daughter. Finally I had become a real human! Next came my two sons, the apples of my eye. Our family unit had become complete.
Sadly we lost our home in Arizona during the dot com and housing bubbles bursting. I was starting my own IT consulting business and times were very lean. Natali's family invited us to live in the house back in California where Nat's father lived. It was a neighborhood we could not afford to move to or live in on our own. There were excellent public schools and a perfect location to get my business off the ground.
Soon after moving in Nat's father had a bad driving accident and was diagnosed with Dementia and soon after Alzheimer disease. Natali became his caregiver at that point. Grandpa lives downstairs and we live upstairs. It's a situation ripe with sitcom material. We are something between Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle.
Then one day she starts feeling sick and tired beyond the normal "sick and tired". Over the span of almost a year they kept doing tests, giving her different medications and generally misdiagnosing several things along the way. This is not a condemnation on the doctors she was working with. They did all the right tests along the way and they all came back clean. With all the variables in her life it seemed a little clinically diagnosed depression and exhaustion was the right answer.
Soon the pain in her abdomen became overwhelming and the sonagram and then CT scan made it clear what the real problem was. That is when the roller coaster began.
Through it all. I have been amazed at the strengh and resolute dedication to treatment Natali has displayed. I mean, I knew already she was a tough chick and "NTBFW" as I like to say. (Not To Be F***ked With). But her positive attitude, mental fortitude and focus has been nothing short of super heroic. She's my SuperHeroine, that is for certain
The last CT scan came back clear. No new growths. The CA-125 marker is at immeasurable levels for her now. This is all the best case scenario for Natali. There is a long road ahead. But if things keep going the way they are going then there should not be a recurrance. So that means it's time to live life! Love and be loved!
About 4 months time has passed since I begain writing this and am now writing the closing paragraphs. I am unashamed to say that I think I ruined my keyboard with all the tears that have flowed while trying to write this in it's entirety and it has humbled me greatly. With great love in my heart I wish to thank everyone that has already gone way above and beyond the call to help Natali, my children and myself. And I wish to thank anyone in advance who contributes to this page.
Natali was suddenly diagnosed with what ended up being Stage 3c Ovarian Cancer. The good news is that they were thinking Stage 4 based on the initial CT scan. They put her into surgery a week after the CT scan and did a complete radical hysterectomy, cancer mass debulking, removed her spleen and had to take a few pieces of her liver out but thankfully not so much to make it non-functional. The good news on that is that they didn't have to remove any of her lower GI, which was on the menu at first. The de-bulking part of the surgery was optimal. The growths were all large solid masses and they were able to remove 100% of what they could visually see. So far so good. Such a relative phrase, never before has my perception been so skewed on what counts as "good".
Chemo followed. Aggressive chemo. They installed IV and IP ports and her chemo started on a Monday with Taxol in the IV and Sisplatin in the IP on Tuesday. Then Taxol in the IP the next Monday. Then 13 days off. Rinse and repeat six times.
She made it through all 6 cycles! We found out part way through that most people don't make it through the Sisplatin because it's so intense. Most people make it through 1-3 of those treatments and then opt to discontinue them or are physically unable to continue them. Natali did all 6!
The reason we are asking for help raising money doesn't seem as dire as some of the people who need help that I have seen on this site. If you are one of those wonderful people who are donating a small amount of a limited income please give your money to another family that is having harder times than we are. While I was reading other people's entries for guidance on how to write this I wanted to whip out my credit card a dozen times at least. As much as we do need help, I wouldn't want to take away from someone who has NO health insurance or has had worse tragedies occur in their lives.
We are asking for help for the medical bills, medication and quality of life items that we need now and some that we don't know when we will need them. Right now it's not really clear how much this is all going to cost us. Some of the bills are starting to roll in and they are impressive already. Outside of just the medical are family mobility and operational costs. Then there is the cost of proper food and supplements that are not covered by insurance but have been clinically proven to help fight and kill cancer. I've started looking at the organic and whole food options, greens for juicing and foods with no artificial coloring and flavoring. These are all the difficult to quantify variables that I am trying to figure out. So, when I set the goal for $25K I have no idea if that is even going to come close to covering it, I doubt that it will. But I have to start somewhere and any help is going to move us forward.
So, why my wife you say? Why donate to her when there are so many very worthy people to donate to? I'll tell you who she is, what she does and what she has done to see if you feel the same way I do.
I was a wreck of a human being when I met her. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was cooking a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables at a friends apartment to try and cook him a healthy meal when another of his roommates came home with this girl, Natali. Our eyes met across the room and time stood still. I had always thought that those moments in movies where strangers lock eyes across a room and everything slows down was just movie magic. But it's not, and it wasn't. I was smitten.
I had just moved back to the Bay Area from New York. I had been moving across the country being a "bad boy" within various states like California, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York. Actually, I'm still not allowed back in the state of Colorado. Haha, but seriously, shhhh. My heart was broken from a terrible breakup, my spirit was broken from having to come live back at home with my parents. And my wallet was empty from spending it at the bar every night. Thank you Behans Irish Pub in Burlingame, you were my family for a short time!
I was living a life that would end in jails, institutions or death. But then my Angel fell. And she fell for me for reasons still unknown. I quit my life of "crime" and I quit drinking alcohol and smoking because of her. Not because she asked me to or tried to make me. But because being with her made me want to be a better man. I got a good job with computers and became successful at what I did. Always with her at my side. Always with her behind me pushing and behind me ready to catch me at any moment. When I had success and let it go to my head she forgave me my hubris and stupid choices. She showed me the path to true love and happiness. Then, she gave me my first born, my princess, my daughter. Finally I had become a real human! Next came my two sons, the apples of my eye. Our family unit had become complete.
Sadly we lost our home in Arizona during the dot com and housing bubbles bursting. I was starting my own IT consulting business and times were very lean. Natali's family invited us to live in the house back in California where Nat's father lived. It was a neighborhood we could not afford to move to or live in on our own. There were excellent public schools and a perfect location to get my business off the ground.
Soon after moving in Nat's father had a bad driving accident and was diagnosed with Dementia and soon after Alzheimer disease. Natali became his caregiver at that point. Grandpa lives downstairs and we live upstairs. It's a situation ripe with sitcom material. We are something between Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle.
Then one day she starts feeling sick and tired beyond the normal "sick and tired". Over the span of almost a year they kept doing tests, giving her different medications and generally misdiagnosing several things along the way. This is not a condemnation on the doctors she was working with. They did all the right tests along the way and they all came back clean. With all the variables in her life it seemed a little clinically diagnosed depression and exhaustion was the right answer.
Soon the pain in her abdomen became overwhelming and the sonagram and then CT scan made it clear what the real problem was. That is when the roller coaster began.
Through it all. I have been amazed at the strengh and resolute dedication to treatment Natali has displayed. I mean, I knew already she was a tough chick and "NTBFW" as I like to say. (Not To Be F***ked With). But her positive attitude, mental fortitude and focus has been nothing short of super heroic. She's my SuperHeroine, that is for certain
The last CT scan came back clear. No new growths. The CA-125 marker is at immeasurable levels for her now. This is all the best case scenario for Natali. There is a long road ahead. But if things keep going the way they are going then there should not be a recurrance. So that means it's time to live life! Love and be loved!
About 4 months time has passed since I begain writing this and am now writing the closing paragraphs. I am unashamed to say that I think I ruined my keyboard with all the tears that have flowed while trying to write this in it's entirety and it has humbled me greatly. With great love in my heart I wish to thank everyone that has already gone way above and beyond the call to help Natali, my children and myself. And I wish to thank anyone in advance who contributes to this page.
Organizador
Derek Forman
Organizador
Millbrae, CA