Help Ava Recover from Breast Cancer
Donation protected
In December 2018, our friend Ava Polozola was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Breast Cancer.
Ava is a lover and follower of Jesus, a dedicated wife, an incredible loving mom, & a true friend and sister.
When I sat down to write this narrative, I decided to look at Ava's Facebook page for some details and inspiration. What I found was a woman of God being fully transparent with a continued focus on loving her family and friends. Some posts from Ava's journey are written below. This whirlwind year has been hard, but she has decided to make this diagnosis about a journey of hope. Ava has gone through chemotherapy, 3 surgeries, countless doctor appointments, and weeks of a trial radiation treatment.
Through all of this she continues keep her eyes fixed on Jesus and is ray of light for those around her. "This journey has not been easy and at times, I have been so sad and frustrated to have to go through it. There is so much that you go through physically, mentally and spiritually. Its not easy and I never want to give the impression that I just glide through with ease. But God.... He is the reason I can get through all of this! He is the one I want to point people to.. not my own strength, as I have none apart from Him!"--Ava
I have no doubt that Ava will continue to beat this cancer & is on the final road to recovery. She is ready to move to the next phase of treatment. This phase includes IV treatments to help clear out the bad cells and prevent the cancer from recurring. I am asking for your prayers, and if possible a financial donation to assist with Ava's next phase of treatment that isn't covered by insurance. Your contributions will go directly towards covering the cost of her medical expenses.
I thank you in advance for your prayers and support.
- Amy Grier
-December 2018-
Today was my oncology appointment. The doctor and everyone in her office was amazing!
The basic plan is :
*First I will be having a pet scan this Friday, which will check from my head to knees to locate any other spots if they exist ( Im standing in faith there is nothing more).
*I will be receiving a call from the hospital tomorrow to schedule the outpatient surgery to put in the port ( a spot on my chest were they will be able to just be able to "plug in" the chemo.)
* I have an MRI on the 27th
All of this will lead up to the start of the first round of chemo which starts January 2nd. The treatments will be on one week off two then back on. So basically every 3 weeks. The type of chemo I will have is called TC and I will have to do 6 cycles which will be about 18 weeks- 5 months. Please pray it goes smoothly and that the side effects will be minimal.
Many people have asked how I am, well that is hard to put into words as all of this is very overwhelming. I am choosing to take everything one moment at a time and not look to far forward. Proverbs 3:5 is what is really the best way to explain where I'm at right now. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"
I am a strong person who tends to do for others and not always feel comfortable allowing people to do for me but I am learning in this that I need to take this time for me and to accept help as we will need different things as we go thru this as a family. The biggest thing is with my girls and to support and love them thru this... they are amazingly wonderful people and I want for everything to stay as "normal" as possible for them.
Love to you all!!!
-January 2019-
Happy new year everyone! I hope the most amazing things in 2019 for every single one of you!
Tomorrow I start my journey with chemo. Most of you know that I am normally a very holistic and natural type person. If there’s an ailment I have an oil for it LOL. I have had to come to terms with the fact that sometimes you need something more to fight. I’m realizing that it’s OK that everyone’s journey with cancer and sickness is different. I am aware that there will be people who will think I’m wrong for doing chemo. I was unsure before I was diagnosed on what exactly I would do. I Believe that until you come face-to-face with a diagnosis you don’t really know how you would respond. My reason for doing the chemo is to be aggressive in my fight towards this cancer. It is not just in my breast it is in my lymph node and therefore I must use the chemo to make sure that it is removed from any portion of my body. Today i am preparing my body with steroid pills to help with the chemo tomorrow. I can’t say that I would’ve signed up for this journey, and with all transparency I am not walking into it with happiness and joy. But… God! Regardless of my circumstances I know that God is with me in this journey and He will give me strength when I have none. I am believing whole heartedly that there will be many God moments and great testimonies that come from this! God does not give us sickness and disease but he gives us opportunities to speak into the lives of others in a way that we may not have had before. I am praying for those opportunities, because I must believe that there is something bigger here in this situation!
Please continue to pray for little to no side effects from the treatments. Pray for my family for strength. I love you all and appreciate all the support that we have been given! ❤️
-February 2019-
They say bald is beautiful, well in the spirit of transparency i don’t feel beautiful right now. I was losing my hair in such a dramatic fashion this past week that i decided to do something to take back some sense of control, i got my head shaved. Tears as i took off my cap to show what was underneath. It was so painful and has been the worse part of this process. I know it may seem very conceited but as a woman it is one of the very things that make you feel like who you are - it’s your crown. But... once the straggling pieces of patchy hair were gone i saw a glimmer of hope.
I probably won’t be out with this look because i was blessed with an amazing wig from a very kind friend but i felt like i needed to be real.
Sharing this is not easy and is actually quite embarrassing but it is the reality of life right now. With that said, i believe that sharing what we go thru in its fullness speaks into others lives in ways we can’t even understand! God is good and uses everything for His glory! ❤️
-March 2019-
It is official.........NO MORE Chemo!!! ❤️. My surgeon called yesterday to tell me she received the mri results. The tumor under my arm on my lymph node has shrunk in half . The others have shrunk but not as much . But She felt confident in not continuing with more chemo and will be coordinating with the plastic surgeon to schedule surgery for middle to end of April. Happy birthday to me lol. She also will be removing the port that day . After surgery i will have to have localized radiation for the areas but other than that it’s just recovery!
Once we have a date we will be posting meal train dates and also setting up a schedule for help with getting the girls home from school,as i won’t be able to drive for about 2 weeks.
Thank you for all your prayers and support!!! I truly have felt surrounded ❤️
-April 2019-
Update: Hi there friends i had my pre op appointments with both the surgeon and plastic surgeon yesterday. They both explained their part of the surgery And the recovery afterwards. I will need to be at the hospital next Wednesday at 8 o’clock to check in and then at 9 o’clock they will start the radiation injection to see of any there’s issues before we go into surgery at 10:30. The basic gist of the surgery is a bilateral Mastectomy which will be taking all the tissue/ tumors out from both of my breasts. The surgeon will then remove the tumor in my left axillary and possibly take one to two lymph nodes. She will also biopsy my right axillary lymph nodes as the MRI showed something there. She is hopeful that it is just a reactionary spot and not a cancerous spot. After she is done with her part which takes about 3 1/2 hours the plastic surgeon will come in and place the expanders and two drains in either side. His portion is about 2 1/2 hours so the entire surgery is about six. I will be staying at the hospital for a least 23 hours after the surgery for observation and then will be released to go home to recuperate. Both surgeons told me that it is possible for the recuperation period To take up to six weeks. And as long as the drains are still in I will not be able to drive. So I am praying that everything drains well and they are able to be taken out within a short time period. If they are not I will have to add days to the sign-up genius for help with getting my kids home from school . But my plan is to do all that I need to do to recover well and quickly. Three weeks after my surgery I have an appointment to meet with the radiation oncologist. I will have localized radiation for 33 days (not including weekends and holidays) and then four months after that I will be able to have the second portion of the reconstruction surgery. I very much appreciate all of your prayers and would just ask if you could please pray for the surgery and for a quick recovery period. I am not fearful but admittedly nervous because I have not ever had major surgery and do not know what to expect. I think my apprehension comes from the not knowing. The things however that I DO know are that God has me in the palm of his hand as he has had me this entire time! I also know that I have amazing friends who have been praying for me this entire time and continue to hold me up in prayer. Really ,with those two things how can I not be completely thankful!
Thank you all so much for your love, your kindness, your generosity and your prayers! I love you all and I’m thankful for you! ❤️
Also as a side note my hair is growing back ❤️ Whoot whoot
-May 2019-
Hi friends! Today i am officially at 2 weeks post op . I can’t even believe all that happened that day. 8 hour long surgery with 1 hour in recovery: double mastectomy- 3-4 lymph nodes removed on left auxiliary ,biopsy on right auxiliary and insertion of expanders.
Since then I have been able to get 3 of the 4 drains taken out which has been nice. 2 in the first week and the the 3rd this past Monday at my appointment. The bruising and swelling are going down but not completely gone. They also started the expansion process. It was weird but not painful during until after when it started to feel very uncomfortable on the left side. I think my muscles inside are already annoyed from the surgery so every time something is done to that side in particular it ends up being quite painful. Aside from that i am healing well!
Physically,i must say has been difficult for this always busy mom , my range of motion is limited and i can’t lift, drive or do much but i am getting better every day and that’s a plus. Emotionally it’s been hard to rely on people to help you shower,dress etc. It’s a humbling experience for sure. And then there is what i look like physically which is probably the hardest to deal with. Seeing your body look so beat up and different is very hard. Real talk: Cancer sucks
With all that said I must say that even tho this process has not been fun I have been able to truly see God’s hand in everything. I have met amazing warriors who have gone thru and some who continue to go thru this battle but have such amazing outlooks on life. It has shown me that when someone has sickness or disease, the most important thing to do for them is to not judge them or their situation, because you don’t know what you would do in a situation until you’ve been there. You don’t tell them what they’ve done or ate to get them sick and you don’t tell them they need more faith to get healed. What they really need is for others to just love on them and stand with them in prayer.
My journey has shown me that love and i have truly felt so completely surrounded by your prayers and support! It has been such a beautiful example of what true community looks like! I am forever grateful to each and every one of you and feel so blessed to have such an amazing support system!!
-June 2019-
Well, as a planner i am totally having to learn the ever changing world i am in right now. It has been so far a lesson in patience, total reliance on and trust in God!
My surgeon called to let me know what the tumor board had said about my case. The tumor board is a group of oncologists/radiation oncologists and surgeons who meet to talk about different cases and what they all think is best for treatment. They said for my case they want me to go back into surgery to do a dissection of more lymph nodes before i do radiation. Since i had so much cancer in the left lymph node area the chemo and the first surgery shrunk it but didn’t get rid of it. So they don’t feel comfortable with me starting radiation until the amount left is so minimal. So first the plastic surgeon will remove saline from expander and then i will go back to have surgery on June 6th. It will be much shorter surgery, at about an hour and half . She will go back in thru the previous incision and then take out whatever she feels needs to go and place in a drain. If all goes well i should be able to go home the same day. (Planning on it!)
Once all of this is done there will be time for healing and then filling expander back up and then radiation.
Although I’m not looking forward to another surgery so soon, i know it’s what is needed to make sure we are cleaning me out of all cancer.
I appreciate all of your love and prayers!!! You all have been so wonderful and i am grateful to have such an amazing support system !!!! Love you all ❤️
-August 2019-
Hi friends
I went to my radiation oncologist today to finish mapping, get X-rays and another ct scan. We practiced breath holding etc for the start of radiation which will be Monday afternoon. I have to say it was a little nerve wracking to lay on the table where i will be getting my radiation. I was so focused on my breathing that my doctor told me i was off from last time . It’s so weird how when you have to make sure your breathing you all of a sudden forget how to .
Please pray for me for Monday and then for the following 3 weeks as i will go in every day to receive the radiation . I am nervous about the unknown but am believing Gods hand of protection is over me to protect my body from any adverse affects. I am believing that after this i will be given the all clear! Please stand with me in that ❤️
Love you all
-September 2019-
Hi Friends! Its been a while since my last post...I wanted to touch base and update everyone.
So I had 3 straight weeks of radiation which initially seemed pretty easy as you don't really feel anything while its happening. You basically lay there with arms above your head taped to the table and taped to the shield that covers the part of your body they radiate. The huge machine I posted pics of moves around you with a beam of radiation you can't even feel. It wasn't exactly fun but it was fairly easy. After 2 weeks I started to see affects from the radiation and then after it ended it just got worse. Its kind of like a reallllly bad sunburn. Thankfully I took very good care of my skin as the techs told me sometimes people end up with open sores. Since it ended, my radiation oncologist said that I am healing up well. I have a skin check tomorrow and then won't have to see her for a couple of months.
In the mean time I have frequent appointments with my plastic surgeon, PT and still have to check in with my oncologist every couple months to get blood work etc. The nurse called from my oncologist office the other day in regard to my latest blood work and my markers were at 16.5, down from 25 but still not where I would like to see them. Please pray they continue to go down. Also she wants me to start taking hormone blockers in October but I haven't felt a peace about it. Still praying about it and doing research on natural alternatives.
This journey has not been easy and at times I have been so sad and frustrated to have to go thru it. Theres so much that you go thru physically, mentally and spiritually. Its not easy and I never want to give the impression that I just glide thru with ease. But God.... He is the reason I can get thru all of this! He is the one I want to point people to.. not my own strength, as I have none apart from Him!
I never realized all that people went thru when dealing with cancer or chronic disease. I have a new appreciation and understanding for all of it! Its why I am so passionate about how we as people and as a church look at those who are dealing with sickness. Something Ive learned is that unless you have gone thru something you lack authority to speak into someones life about the subject. Not that you can't have empathy, but you just can't understand until its you who's gone thru it.
I love you all and am so thankful for each of you !!!!!
-October 2019-
Hi friends! Yesterday I went to my surgeon for a check up and she said everything is healing great and looks great. We discussed my markers since they show 16.5 instead of zero which is what i was expecting and I was concerned. She said that I am technically considered cancer free at this point and that my markers are not going to be zero but will be a new normal for me.  So a bit anticlimactic lol but still GREAT! So now i begin the process of rebuilding my body and getting ready for the final exchange surgery. God has been in every area of this journey and will continue to hold me!
There’s so many people who are fighting battles.....some we know and some we don’t. I’ve had so many friends who have been diagnosed with cancer or who are going thru painful situations. The one thing I’ve learned through it all is to throw advice out the window (unless they ask) and just love them and be there for them! ❤️
Ava is a lover and follower of Jesus, a dedicated wife, an incredible loving mom, & a true friend and sister.
When I sat down to write this narrative, I decided to look at Ava's Facebook page for some details and inspiration. What I found was a woman of God being fully transparent with a continued focus on loving her family and friends. Some posts from Ava's journey are written below. This whirlwind year has been hard, but she has decided to make this diagnosis about a journey of hope. Ava has gone through chemotherapy, 3 surgeries, countless doctor appointments, and weeks of a trial radiation treatment.
Through all of this she continues keep her eyes fixed on Jesus and is ray of light for those around her. "This journey has not been easy and at times, I have been so sad and frustrated to have to go through it. There is so much that you go through physically, mentally and spiritually. Its not easy and I never want to give the impression that I just glide through with ease. But God.... He is the reason I can get through all of this! He is the one I want to point people to.. not my own strength, as I have none apart from Him!"--Ava
I have no doubt that Ava will continue to beat this cancer & is on the final road to recovery. She is ready to move to the next phase of treatment. This phase includes IV treatments to help clear out the bad cells and prevent the cancer from recurring. I am asking for your prayers, and if possible a financial donation to assist with Ava's next phase of treatment that isn't covered by insurance. Your contributions will go directly towards covering the cost of her medical expenses.
I thank you in advance for your prayers and support.
- Amy Grier
-December 2018-
Today was my oncology appointment. The doctor and everyone in her office was amazing!
The basic plan is :
*First I will be having a pet scan this Friday, which will check from my head to knees to locate any other spots if they exist ( Im standing in faith there is nothing more).
*I will be receiving a call from the hospital tomorrow to schedule the outpatient surgery to put in the port ( a spot on my chest were they will be able to just be able to "plug in" the chemo.)
* I have an MRI on the 27th
All of this will lead up to the start of the first round of chemo which starts January 2nd. The treatments will be on one week off two then back on. So basically every 3 weeks. The type of chemo I will have is called TC and I will have to do 6 cycles which will be about 18 weeks- 5 months. Please pray it goes smoothly and that the side effects will be minimal.
Many people have asked how I am, well that is hard to put into words as all of this is very overwhelming. I am choosing to take everything one moment at a time and not look to far forward. Proverbs 3:5 is what is really the best way to explain where I'm at right now. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"
I am a strong person who tends to do for others and not always feel comfortable allowing people to do for me but I am learning in this that I need to take this time for me and to accept help as we will need different things as we go thru this as a family. The biggest thing is with my girls and to support and love them thru this... they are amazingly wonderful people and I want for everything to stay as "normal" as possible for them.
Love to you all!!!
-January 2019-
Happy new year everyone! I hope the most amazing things in 2019 for every single one of you!
Tomorrow I start my journey with chemo. Most of you know that I am normally a very holistic and natural type person. If there’s an ailment I have an oil for it LOL. I have had to come to terms with the fact that sometimes you need something more to fight. I’m realizing that it’s OK that everyone’s journey with cancer and sickness is different. I am aware that there will be people who will think I’m wrong for doing chemo. I was unsure before I was diagnosed on what exactly I would do. I Believe that until you come face-to-face with a diagnosis you don’t really know how you would respond. My reason for doing the chemo is to be aggressive in my fight towards this cancer. It is not just in my breast it is in my lymph node and therefore I must use the chemo to make sure that it is removed from any portion of my body. Today i am preparing my body with steroid pills to help with the chemo tomorrow. I can’t say that I would’ve signed up for this journey, and with all transparency I am not walking into it with happiness and joy. But… God! Regardless of my circumstances I know that God is with me in this journey and He will give me strength when I have none. I am believing whole heartedly that there will be many God moments and great testimonies that come from this! God does not give us sickness and disease but he gives us opportunities to speak into the lives of others in a way that we may not have had before. I am praying for those opportunities, because I must believe that there is something bigger here in this situation!
Please continue to pray for little to no side effects from the treatments. Pray for my family for strength. I love you all and appreciate all the support that we have been given! ❤️
-February 2019-
They say bald is beautiful, well in the spirit of transparency i don’t feel beautiful right now. I was losing my hair in such a dramatic fashion this past week that i decided to do something to take back some sense of control, i got my head shaved. Tears as i took off my cap to show what was underneath. It was so painful and has been the worse part of this process. I know it may seem very conceited but as a woman it is one of the very things that make you feel like who you are - it’s your crown. But... once the straggling pieces of patchy hair were gone i saw a glimmer of hope.
I probably won’t be out with this look because i was blessed with an amazing wig from a very kind friend but i felt like i needed to be real.
Sharing this is not easy and is actually quite embarrassing but it is the reality of life right now. With that said, i believe that sharing what we go thru in its fullness speaks into others lives in ways we can’t even understand! God is good and uses everything for His glory! ❤️
-March 2019-
It is official.........NO MORE Chemo!!! ❤️. My surgeon called yesterday to tell me she received the mri results. The tumor under my arm on my lymph node has shrunk in half . The others have shrunk but not as much . But She felt confident in not continuing with more chemo and will be coordinating with the plastic surgeon to schedule surgery for middle to end of April. Happy birthday to me lol. She also will be removing the port that day . After surgery i will have to have localized radiation for the areas but other than that it’s just recovery!
Once we have a date we will be posting meal train dates and also setting up a schedule for help with getting the girls home from school,as i won’t be able to drive for about 2 weeks.
Thank you for all your prayers and support!!! I truly have felt surrounded ❤️
-April 2019-
Update: Hi there friends i had my pre op appointments with both the surgeon and plastic surgeon yesterday. They both explained their part of the surgery And the recovery afterwards. I will need to be at the hospital next Wednesday at 8 o’clock to check in and then at 9 o’clock they will start the radiation injection to see of any there’s issues before we go into surgery at 10:30. The basic gist of the surgery is a bilateral Mastectomy which will be taking all the tissue/ tumors out from both of my breasts. The surgeon will then remove the tumor in my left axillary and possibly take one to two lymph nodes. She will also biopsy my right axillary lymph nodes as the MRI showed something there. She is hopeful that it is just a reactionary spot and not a cancerous spot. After she is done with her part which takes about 3 1/2 hours the plastic surgeon will come in and place the expanders and two drains in either side. His portion is about 2 1/2 hours so the entire surgery is about six. I will be staying at the hospital for a least 23 hours after the surgery for observation and then will be released to go home to recuperate. Both surgeons told me that it is possible for the recuperation period To take up to six weeks. And as long as the drains are still in I will not be able to drive. So I am praying that everything drains well and they are able to be taken out within a short time period. If they are not I will have to add days to the sign-up genius for help with getting my kids home from school . But my plan is to do all that I need to do to recover well and quickly. Three weeks after my surgery I have an appointment to meet with the radiation oncologist. I will have localized radiation for 33 days (not including weekends and holidays) and then four months after that I will be able to have the second portion of the reconstruction surgery. I very much appreciate all of your prayers and would just ask if you could please pray for the surgery and for a quick recovery period. I am not fearful but admittedly nervous because I have not ever had major surgery and do not know what to expect. I think my apprehension comes from the not knowing. The things however that I DO know are that God has me in the palm of his hand as he has had me this entire time! I also know that I have amazing friends who have been praying for me this entire time and continue to hold me up in prayer. Really ,with those two things how can I not be completely thankful!
Thank you all so much for your love, your kindness, your generosity and your prayers! I love you all and I’m thankful for you! ❤️
Also as a side note my hair is growing back ❤️ Whoot whoot
-May 2019-
Hi friends! Today i am officially at 2 weeks post op . I can’t even believe all that happened that day. 8 hour long surgery with 1 hour in recovery: double mastectomy- 3-4 lymph nodes removed on left auxiliary ,biopsy on right auxiliary and insertion of expanders.
Since then I have been able to get 3 of the 4 drains taken out which has been nice. 2 in the first week and the the 3rd this past Monday at my appointment. The bruising and swelling are going down but not completely gone. They also started the expansion process. It was weird but not painful during until after when it started to feel very uncomfortable on the left side. I think my muscles inside are already annoyed from the surgery so every time something is done to that side in particular it ends up being quite painful. Aside from that i am healing well!
Physically,i must say has been difficult for this always busy mom , my range of motion is limited and i can’t lift, drive or do much but i am getting better every day and that’s a plus. Emotionally it’s been hard to rely on people to help you shower,dress etc. It’s a humbling experience for sure. And then there is what i look like physically which is probably the hardest to deal with. Seeing your body look so beat up and different is very hard. Real talk: Cancer sucks
With all that said I must say that even tho this process has not been fun I have been able to truly see God’s hand in everything. I have met amazing warriors who have gone thru and some who continue to go thru this battle but have such amazing outlooks on life. It has shown me that when someone has sickness or disease, the most important thing to do for them is to not judge them or their situation, because you don’t know what you would do in a situation until you’ve been there. You don’t tell them what they’ve done or ate to get them sick and you don’t tell them they need more faith to get healed. What they really need is for others to just love on them and stand with them in prayer.
My journey has shown me that love and i have truly felt so completely surrounded by your prayers and support! It has been such a beautiful example of what true community looks like! I am forever grateful to each and every one of you and feel so blessed to have such an amazing support system!!
-June 2019-
Well, as a planner i am totally having to learn the ever changing world i am in right now. It has been so far a lesson in patience, total reliance on and trust in God!
My surgeon called to let me know what the tumor board had said about my case. The tumor board is a group of oncologists/radiation oncologists and surgeons who meet to talk about different cases and what they all think is best for treatment. They said for my case they want me to go back into surgery to do a dissection of more lymph nodes before i do radiation. Since i had so much cancer in the left lymph node area the chemo and the first surgery shrunk it but didn’t get rid of it. So they don’t feel comfortable with me starting radiation until the amount left is so minimal. So first the plastic surgeon will remove saline from expander and then i will go back to have surgery on June 6th. It will be much shorter surgery, at about an hour and half . She will go back in thru the previous incision and then take out whatever she feels needs to go and place in a drain. If all goes well i should be able to go home the same day. (Planning on it!)
Once all of this is done there will be time for healing and then filling expander back up and then radiation.
Although I’m not looking forward to another surgery so soon, i know it’s what is needed to make sure we are cleaning me out of all cancer.
I appreciate all of your love and prayers!!! You all have been so wonderful and i am grateful to have such an amazing support system !!!! Love you all ❤️
-August 2019-
Hi friends
I went to my radiation oncologist today to finish mapping, get X-rays and another ct scan. We practiced breath holding etc for the start of radiation which will be Monday afternoon. I have to say it was a little nerve wracking to lay on the table where i will be getting my radiation. I was so focused on my breathing that my doctor told me i was off from last time . It’s so weird how when you have to make sure your breathing you all of a sudden forget how to .
Please pray for me for Monday and then for the following 3 weeks as i will go in every day to receive the radiation . I am nervous about the unknown but am believing Gods hand of protection is over me to protect my body from any adverse affects. I am believing that after this i will be given the all clear! Please stand with me in that ❤️
Love you all
-September 2019-
Hi Friends! Its been a while since my last post...I wanted to touch base and update everyone.
So I had 3 straight weeks of radiation which initially seemed pretty easy as you don't really feel anything while its happening. You basically lay there with arms above your head taped to the table and taped to the shield that covers the part of your body they radiate. The huge machine I posted pics of moves around you with a beam of radiation you can't even feel. It wasn't exactly fun but it was fairly easy. After 2 weeks I started to see affects from the radiation and then after it ended it just got worse. Its kind of like a reallllly bad sunburn. Thankfully I took very good care of my skin as the techs told me sometimes people end up with open sores. Since it ended, my radiation oncologist said that I am healing up well. I have a skin check tomorrow and then won't have to see her for a couple of months.
In the mean time I have frequent appointments with my plastic surgeon, PT and still have to check in with my oncologist every couple months to get blood work etc. The nurse called from my oncologist office the other day in regard to my latest blood work and my markers were at 16.5, down from 25 but still not where I would like to see them. Please pray they continue to go down. Also she wants me to start taking hormone blockers in October but I haven't felt a peace about it. Still praying about it and doing research on natural alternatives.
This journey has not been easy and at times I have been so sad and frustrated to have to go thru it. Theres so much that you go thru physically, mentally and spiritually. Its not easy and I never want to give the impression that I just glide thru with ease. But God.... He is the reason I can get thru all of this! He is the one I want to point people to.. not my own strength, as I have none apart from Him!
I never realized all that people went thru when dealing with cancer or chronic disease. I have a new appreciation and understanding for all of it! Its why I am so passionate about how we as people and as a church look at those who are dealing with sickness. Something Ive learned is that unless you have gone thru something you lack authority to speak into someones life about the subject. Not that you can't have empathy, but you just can't understand until its you who's gone thru it.
I love you all and am so thankful for each of you !!!!!
-October 2019-
Hi friends! Yesterday I went to my surgeon for a check up and she said everything is healing great and looks great. We discussed my markers since they show 16.5 instead of zero which is what i was expecting and I was concerned. She said that I am technically considered cancer free at this point and that my markers are not going to be zero but will be a new normal for me.  So a bit anticlimactic lol but still GREAT! So now i begin the process of rebuilding my body and getting ready for the final exchange surgery. God has been in every area of this journey and will continue to hold me!
There’s so many people who are fighting battles.....some we know and some we don’t. I’ve had so many friends who have been diagnosed with cancer or who are going thru painful situations. The one thing I’ve learned through it all is to throw advice out the window (unless they ask) and just love them and be there for them! ❤️
Organiser and beneficiary
Amy Grier
Organiser
Longwood, FL
Ava Polozola
Beneficiary