A mahalo message from Miyuki:

”Aloha and Happy New Year to friends, family and to the kind, thoughtful people who have generously donated to my GoFund me page. The page was set up by my friend, Tammy Pearce-Bucknell, who was kind enough to take the time to do this for me. You are all very much appreciated!

Your generosity has allowed me to continue heal as I navigate this road to recovery. I say recovery because my last CT showed a vast improvement to my lymph nodes. The swelling has gone down considerably. Several of the chemo meds have been discontinued. I still have to do chemo, but now it’s every six weeks instead of three. My hair has just started to grow back on my head as well as places it shouldn’t be! The neuropathy is annoying still. The numbness and pain to my hands and feed may go on for another six to twelve months with the possibility it may never go away. On another positive note, I no longer have to stay in bed for days after my chemo, miserable and uncomfortable. I am slowly healing, for that I am eternally grateful! As I am grateful for all the thoughtful words of encouragement and financial help. Thank you everyone! Happy New Year!!”

Miyuki’s story:

We moved from Oahu to the big island in July, 2016. We wanted a less stressful, laid back life with a lower mortgage payment than the one we had on Oahu.

From the very beginning, Spencer did not feel well. It took months of doctors visits, and a subsequent collapse and medivac to Queens hospital on Oahu (in November) before we found out he had terminal cancer. Thanksgiving was spent in the hospital. Between flying to Oahu for treatment and the exhaustion from the illness, Spencer was not able to really enjoy our new life and new home on the Big Island. Spencer chose to be home with family rather in hospice care. He took his last breath on May 1, 2017. So began the journey of our small family.

We were away from the rest of our family. We were unable to move back to Oahu because we couldn’t buy back into the expensive real estate market. We couldn’t find a rental that would take 5 dogs and 2 cats. Our dogs were older so rehoming was out of the question. The 2 cats adopted us here. One came to our house and refused to leave. We did find the original owner about a year later but, she refused to go home. The other cat was left behind by the owners when they left their rental.

So here we are, we have 6 dogs, the 17 year old is partially blind and deaf. The 16 is totally blind after a sudden retinal detachment. The 13 year old was picked up at the Waianae dump with mange, sepsis and giardia among other things. The 7 year old was the last of his sibling. Alone and scared before we took him in. The 6 year old, a 3 lb. Yorkie living under a house in a rural area. He used to chase after wild pigs and bigger dogs. I knew he wouldn’t live for too long that way. As the owner begged us to take him, I couldn’t say no. and lastly, the new addition. The 4 years old. Our latest, the 4 year old, we took in to help my son’s friend’s family. The intention was to take him in temporarily, have him neutered and then rehome. Unfortunately, my son and the dog absolutely love each other. Another foster fail.

The illness.

I hadn’t felt well for months. All sorts of tests later, ruling out giardia, appendicitis, gallstones. It turned out to be stage 3 Endometrial cancer. I worked until May 24. On May 25, I flew to Oahu for a radical hysterectomy, removal of my gallbladder and removal of 2 lymph nodes where the cancer had metastasized to. I flew home a few days later for recovery.

Every 3 weeks after that. I went in for chemotherapy. The chemo was hard. I felt awful for about 7-10 days after each session. My was supposed to return to work on August 15th. My supervisor asks me out for lunch on the 9th. It was my birthday so yeah, great! I was let go, laid off on my birthday. TDI continues but, it will end soon. I still experience a lot of side effects of the chemo.

After the October 9th session, the side effects have been really bad. The exhaustion is not something one gets used to.