Tammy Seagraves Strong
Donation protected
I’m raising money for my sweet baby sister who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer and this is her story told her way and I hope it touches you as well as it does me every time I read it.
I know this is long but these are her notes that she has kept during her journey and her post that she has made along the way...
On June 5, 2015, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer and immediately the doctors got together and came up with a plan of treatment for me. God already had a plan in place for me and that was complete healing and restoration! Before I could start treatments I went in to have an infusion port put in that would stay in during my treatments. Second, I received 12 rounds of FOLFOX chemotherapy regimen, consisting of Oxaliplatin, Leucovorin, and 5 FU, over the course of a 24 week period. During chemo, I had PET scans and CT scans to keep up with the progress of how the chemo was doing. It was tough at times but God kept me strong through this whole journey of Faith. You see right before I was diagnosed, May 24, 2015 @ 12:30 pm to be exact, God gave me a word and said "You will not die, but you shall live, and declare the works of the Lord" (Psalm 118:17) at the time we didn't know what that meant we just had to stand on that promise and receive the healing that was already provided for me at Calvary many years ago. Once chemo was complete it was time to talk about surgery so I was referred to the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte where once again God gives me another great team of doctors. I was going to have to have 2 surgeries but before the first surgery I had 5 days of radation. The first surgery was in December 2015 (colon and ovaries) and the other in January 2016 (liver). The enemy fought me through these surgeries but God was there and I quickly reminded the enemy of my foundation that I stood on. That foundation is what got me through this whole thing and that is the one word that God gave me on May 24, 2015. Since my surgeries I've had scans every 3 months and follow-up appointments which everytime are great and will continue to be because I AM HEALED, I AM CANCER FREE!!
So today, June 6, 2017, I praise God because for one thing I am HEALED and CANCER FREE and also I had another CT scan today and it was great. I had no doubt that it wouldn't be and another reason is the port was taken out today, I am so happy that thing is gone and not apart of my body anymore!! Lord, I give you all the praise, honor and glory for what you have done for me and continue to do! I thank you for my family and friends that stood with me and the love and support Father that they gave me. I thank you for my loving and wonderful husband that has always been by my side with not the first complaint from him! I'm not great with words and I left out alot I know but I wanted to share with everyone a little bit of the last 2 years of my life and to encourage anyone that may be going through something like this. Know that God is there for you and He may not give you a word like He did me but what He does for one person He will do for another all you have to do is stand and believe! Receive what God has for you. He longs to give you whatever you need just trust Him! God loves you! TRUST, BELEIVE, and STAND FIRM!! He's a GREAT and a loving God!
In October 2017 after a scan, the doctor said the cancer is showing in my lymph nodes (esophagus, below liver, and above kidney) and surgery wouldn't be an option and only chemo treatments to treat it. I will need to schedule to have the port put back in and begin treatments. I will be on the Folfiri w/Avastin regimen this time which consist of Irinotecan, Leucovorin, Avastin, and 5 FU. After weeks of treatments, I go in for one of my treatments and I always see the doctor first to go over my bloodwork and today he read me my scan. He said he doesn't see any lymph nodes my scan is negative and he just sees tiny specks in my lungs that have been there since my other scans and that remains stable. I just want to say that God is faithful to his word. He died on the cross for us and he died for our healing. Healing is there for the taken just like your salvation just receive it, just believe and stay positive cause he will not let you down. I knew from day 1 that I was healed and no matter what I go through I will stand on that. I will not be moved!
In July 2018, I've decided to take a break from chemo treatments and continue to be scanned every 2 months. Scans continue to be good until I started experiencing back pain in October 2018. I was going back and forth to my primary care doctor and he couldn't find anything wrong. The back pain was horrible, I couldn't get any relief from it at all nothing worked. A couple weeks pass and I start turning jaundice. Now I'm going through more test and find out that my bile duct is blocked. Let me tell you how God works, I'm seeing my primary care doctor the day before Thanksgiving and he's says I can go in the hospital and have a stent put in but it would be a few days because of the holidays but I could get a little relief at least. Of course that wasn't God's plan at all. He made it work out to where there was a Gastroenterologist was already in place at the health campus I was at doing these types of surgeries. My primary care doctor ran upstairs to see this doctor presented my case to him and he said he would work me in, amazing God is so good! Although, once I was prepped and ready the surgery wasn't a success this time. He wasn't able to get the stent in because of my previous surgeries with my liver and he needed more information from my doctors in Charlotte. This doctor took time to work me in and then took the time to contact my doctors in Charlotte on the night before Thanksgiving and get the information that he needed and rescheduled me for the next week to place the stent. My bile duct was almost completly blocked and it took him a while to get the stent in place the following week but it was a success this time. I've since had a PET scan and follow-up appointments with my doctors in Charlotte since this procedure was done.
On December 18, 2018, I received a call from one of my doctors in Charlotte to discuss the results from the tumor board meeting. She said that from reviewing all my scans that my bile duct was being blocked from the lymph nodes on the outside of my bile duct pushing the bile duct in causing it to narrow and be blocked. The options that she presented to me was to go ahead with surgery and take care of removing the infected section of the bile duct and all lymph nodes that she can get surrounding that area. The other option would be to start chemo and go for a couple months and then have the surgery which would kill any cancer cells before surgery. She said I don't have to have surgery right away since I've had the stent put in.
I decided to start chemo again. So as of Monday, January 7th 2019, I've began the same regimen I was on last, Folfiri w/Avastin. I will continue with this regimen for a couple months and will have another CT scan and then re-visit the option of surgery at that point.
As you can see my baby sister has been through alot and is still going through alot but she is standing STRONG!! If her story touched you please share it and hopefully it can touch someone else.
My goal with this Go Fund Me page is to help my baby sister pay for her accumulated medical bills and any future medical bills. Also, to provide any financial support that she may need during this difficult time. The last 3 years have taken a tremendous toll on their finances and any financial support for them would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for taken the time to read her story!
I know this is long but these are her notes that she has kept during her journey and her post that she has made along the way...
On June 5, 2015, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer and immediately the doctors got together and came up with a plan of treatment for me. God already had a plan in place for me and that was complete healing and restoration! Before I could start treatments I went in to have an infusion port put in that would stay in during my treatments. Second, I received 12 rounds of FOLFOX chemotherapy regimen, consisting of Oxaliplatin, Leucovorin, and 5 FU, over the course of a 24 week period. During chemo, I had PET scans and CT scans to keep up with the progress of how the chemo was doing. It was tough at times but God kept me strong through this whole journey of Faith. You see right before I was diagnosed, May 24, 2015 @ 12:30 pm to be exact, God gave me a word and said "You will not die, but you shall live, and declare the works of the Lord" (Psalm 118:17) at the time we didn't know what that meant we just had to stand on that promise and receive the healing that was already provided for me at Calvary many years ago. Once chemo was complete it was time to talk about surgery so I was referred to the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte where once again God gives me another great team of doctors. I was going to have to have 2 surgeries but before the first surgery I had 5 days of radation. The first surgery was in December 2015 (colon and ovaries) and the other in January 2016 (liver). The enemy fought me through these surgeries but God was there and I quickly reminded the enemy of my foundation that I stood on. That foundation is what got me through this whole thing and that is the one word that God gave me on May 24, 2015. Since my surgeries I've had scans every 3 months and follow-up appointments which everytime are great and will continue to be because I AM HEALED, I AM CANCER FREE!!
So today, June 6, 2017, I praise God because for one thing I am HEALED and CANCER FREE and also I had another CT scan today and it was great. I had no doubt that it wouldn't be and another reason is the port was taken out today, I am so happy that thing is gone and not apart of my body anymore!! Lord, I give you all the praise, honor and glory for what you have done for me and continue to do! I thank you for my family and friends that stood with me and the love and support Father that they gave me. I thank you for my loving and wonderful husband that has always been by my side with not the first complaint from him! I'm not great with words and I left out alot I know but I wanted to share with everyone a little bit of the last 2 years of my life and to encourage anyone that may be going through something like this. Know that God is there for you and He may not give you a word like He did me but what He does for one person He will do for another all you have to do is stand and believe! Receive what God has for you. He longs to give you whatever you need just trust Him! God loves you! TRUST, BELEIVE, and STAND FIRM!! He's a GREAT and a loving God!
In October 2017 after a scan, the doctor said the cancer is showing in my lymph nodes (esophagus, below liver, and above kidney) and surgery wouldn't be an option and only chemo treatments to treat it. I will need to schedule to have the port put back in and begin treatments. I will be on the Folfiri w/Avastin regimen this time which consist of Irinotecan, Leucovorin, Avastin, and 5 FU. After weeks of treatments, I go in for one of my treatments and I always see the doctor first to go over my bloodwork and today he read me my scan. He said he doesn't see any lymph nodes my scan is negative and he just sees tiny specks in my lungs that have been there since my other scans and that remains stable. I just want to say that God is faithful to his word. He died on the cross for us and he died for our healing. Healing is there for the taken just like your salvation just receive it, just believe and stay positive cause he will not let you down. I knew from day 1 that I was healed and no matter what I go through I will stand on that. I will not be moved!
In July 2018, I've decided to take a break from chemo treatments and continue to be scanned every 2 months. Scans continue to be good until I started experiencing back pain in October 2018. I was going back and forth to my primary care doctor and he couldn't find anything wrong. The back pain was horrible, I couldn't get any relief from it at all nothing worked. A couple weeks pass and I start turning jaundice. Now I'm going through more test and find out that my bile duct is blocked. Let me tell you how God works, I'm seeing my primary care doctor the day before Thanksgiving and he's says I can go in the hospital and have a stent put in but it would be a few days because of the holidays but I could get a little relief at least. Of course that wasn't God's plan at all. He made it work out to where there was a Gastroenterologist was already in place at the health campus I was at doing these types of surgeries. My primary care doctor ran upstairs to see this doctor presented my case to him and he said he would work me in, amazing God is so good! Although, once I was prepped and ready the surgery wasn't a success this time. He wasn't able to get the stent in because of my previous surgeries with my liver and he needed more information from my doctors in Charlotte. This doctor took time to work me in and then took the time to contact my doctors in Charlotte on the night before Thanksgiving and get the information that he needed and rescheduled me for the next week to place the stent. My bile duct was almost completly blocked and it took him a while to get the stent in place the following week but it was a success this time. I've since had a PET scan and follow-up appointments with my doctors in Charlotte since this procedure was done.
On December 18, 2018, I received a call from one of my doctors in Charlotte to discuss the results from the tumor board meeting. She said that from reviewing all my scans that my bile duct was being blocked from the lymph nodes on the outside of my bile duct pushing the bile duct in causing it to narrow and be blocked. The options that she presented to me was to go ahead with surgery and take care of removing the infected section of the bile duct and all lymph nodes that she can get surrounding that area. The other option would be to start chemo and go for a couple months and then have the surgery which would kill any cancer cells before surgery. She said I don't have to have surgery right away since I've had the stent put in.
I decided to start chemo again. So as of Monday, January 7th 2019, I've began the same regimen I was on last, Folfiri w/Avastin. I will continue with this regimen for a couple months and will have another CT scan and then re-visit the option of surgery at that point.
As you can see my baby sister has been through alot and is still going through alot but she is standing STRONG!! If her story touched you please share it and hopefully it can touch someone else.
My goal with this Go Fund Me page is to help my baby sister pay for her accumulated medical bills and any future medical bills. Also, to provide any financial support that she may need during this difficult time. The last 3 years have taken a tremendous toll on their finances and any financial support for them would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for taken the time to read her story!
Organizer and beneficiary
Belinda Rash
Organizer
Anderson, SC
Tammy Seagraves
Beneficiary
