Help Kaitlynn kick Cancer's butt!!

Friends and family, this is my beautiful 26 year old daughter kaitlynn Beth. Kait began having severe headaches in January of last year. She went to a doctor in Boise and was told it was nothing and sent home. By June, the headaches were excrutiating and unbearable so she went to the ER and was found to have a pea sized tumor which , when biopsied, was determined to be malignant. She had a shunt placed in her head to relieve the pressure on her brain and drain the accumulated fluid into her abdominal cavity to be reabsorbed in to her body. We were told the tumor was near the opening of her brain stem -smack dab in the center of her brain and was inoperable. Around the same time, kait and Roma found out she was pregnant. my baby was going to have her second baby. After a couple weeks without answers about the biopsy, st Luke's sent The sample to UCSF as the doctors here could not identify the tumor. Then,About six weeks later, it had a name. It was an anaplastic pylocystic astrocytoma. She went through a round of focused radiation, targeted solely on the tumor. It was a miracle , we thought, because the tumor appeared to be shrinking. Several MRIs following showed no activity so We thought the monster was sleeping. We were so hopeful. Then, more devastating news ...there was no amniotic fluid to surround the baby. It was leaking and, on top of everything else, kait and Roma lost their baby in the second trimester of her pregnancy .

Jump ahead... Several MRIs later she now has 6 plus lesions in her brain and they are active and aggressive. Then, After kait began complaining of a terrible back ache for a month or so, the doctors here decided to scan her spine. That's when we were told the cancer was spreading and, what kait thought was sciatica, was actually the cancer in her lower spine. These types of tumors are known to be very agressive and these buggers are holding true to that. Frustrated and confused, there had to be more options than just more chemotherapy. Kait was placed back on a steroid and told she would need to get chemo started sooner rather than later. We still didn't know exactly what we were up against. Kaitlynn's sister karmen had been doing a lot of research and putting in a lot of time trying to figure out where we could go for help. One place kept popping up and it became clear that we needed to get kaitlynn on an airplane to Houston Texas to MD Anderson Cancer center. Kait and I arrived in Houston last Wednesday for a consultation with an amazing neurologist. We got more explanation and information from him in one hour than we did from anyone here over the last year. That isn't to say that Boise doesn't have good doctors, it is just that Boise doesn't have the same resources that a bigger city such as Houston, San Francisco Boston, etc., has to offer.

It was explained to us that there is a casing around the spine and within that casing, is spinal fluid. The not so good news was to find out that the cancer indeed did spread to her spine but what we didn't know is that it spread to the spinal fluid and this constantly moving and therefore, also inoperable.

Kate has decided to continue her treatment at MD Anderson and do what she can in Boise but she will be traveling back and forth often. The doctor explained to us that there are a couple of different types of radiation - proton and photon. As I mentioned, Boise does not have the same resources that a bigger city has access to and Boise only does the standard proton radiation. Kait has an appointment this morning for mapping that will identify where and how often radiation should be done. They're going to avoid the focused area that she previously had radiation as introducing that area again could potentially be toxic. She also has a full body scan scheduled to see if there are any other areas that we need to be concerned about. Kaitlynn will be returning to Boise this afternoon to be with her daughter and her husband until she finds out when the radiation starts. She is also being started on a newer chemotherapy medication and will, without a doubt, lose all of her hair (which really is no big deal because kaitlynn could wear a paper bag on her head and she would still be extraordinarily beautiful).

The doctors and staff at MD Anderson are exceptional and they gave us hope. We feel like now Kait has an opportunity to get the treatment she deserves and that will guide her in the right direction. We are all so grateful to Dr Carlos Kamiya for being so kind, patient and caring with his explanations of the situation my beautiful daughter is facing.

Kait has a long road ahead of her for sure. Her sis set up a GoFundMe to help with the financial hardship of traveling back and forth and to help ensure that all options are attainable.

I am humbly putting this out there seeking,not only financial help, but prayer. Please take a moment to help Kait and her little family. I appreciate you taking the time to read this very long message and for helping her in the difficult journey she has in front of her.

Please let me know if you have any questions or want more information about the status in these next few months. Thank you all.

Karol