
Fighting my 3rd cancer battle
Hello, my name is Lyn Dawson and I have colorectal cancer. I had been in remission for not even 6 months. I went for a surveillance CT Scan and lab work which revealed a cancer lesion on my spine L5 and a CEA level of 116.1 CEA=CarcinoEmbryoticAntigen and it is in the blood of a person with cancer. Normal range is >4.7 and mine has tripled in less than 6 months. I fell on 10/2/23 in my apartment. The fall resulted in an L4 compression fracture and the sinister cancer lesion on L5 was revealed. I had a visit with my oncologist on 12/21/23 that completely caught me off guard. I thought I was just going thru and finished radiation therapy about to start chemo. I was told that once cancer goes into your bones it doesn’t come out. I will never be in remission again. I will not walk without my walker again. The best I can do is PT to get stronger and walk with the walker better. Dr advised me that my only option is chemo every week for the rest of my life until my body can no longer handle it. She advised me to contact and talk to hospice right now while I’m not in crisis with my health. She advised me to start thinking about who I want to have as my power of attorney and have a conversation with them about my wishes. Today was the get your affairs in order talk. She told me that I can’t even start chemo until I have someone who will stay with me or me stay with them. It was at that point I realized how alone I am. I have family support locally not one who would be able to do this for me. But I don’t blame them this is a huge undertaking. Things like live in helpers are paid for with 401K’s that you’ve saved and contributed to support you when something like this comes up and is not covered anywhere else. I have not been able to work that much to contribute and save a sizeable 401K. My head is still spinning at all the things I will need and don’t have a way to pay for them. But mostly right now I am mad as hell this is not fair and I’m not ready to die. Please if you can help me with a donation to fight this scary, painful and fatal disease I would be so grateful. It’s unbelievably cruel when you realize that you can’t afford the treatment to stay alive.