So we are not sure how to start this, we are going to start when

Catherine had moved to Georgia in late summer of 2021. She had just started a new job, moved into a new apartment, and bought a new car.

In March, we went to celebrate her 45th birthday.

When we arrived, we realized that she was sick.

So we rushed her to the hospital.

As we waited, we found out that she had cancer “all over her body” and they weren’t sure what type she had.

She spent almost three weeks in the hospital in Georgia.

They were trying to stabilize her and figure out what type of cancer she had. While she was in the hospital, we were trying to figure out how to move her back to Florida.

Once she received the all clear, we moved her back to Florida. She had to give up her apartment. Quit her job and hand over her new car.

Catherine was having difficulties walking, keeping food down, and only wanted to go to sleep. Jackie took Catherine to Moffit a week later, and there they met Dr Saeed. He had run tests and diagnosed her with stage four peripheral T cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a rare, aggressive, grows and spreads very quickly. It’s a type of cancer that affects various parts of the body, including the skin and brain.

He rushed her to get a port in my chest so she could receive her first chemotherapy call, “the chop.” We would drive 2 hours to Moffit and she would get her blood taken, see the doctor, and then sit in the chemotherapy ward for 3 to five hours.

We did this every six weeks for six months, with a PET scan taken 18 weeks after the first chemo to see if it was working.

After the 1st PET scan, the scan showed it was shrinking. By the 2nd PET scan it showed it had stopped shrinking.

What we didn’t know was that with these treatments, she would develop side effects and be hospitalized.

She was having a hard time breathing, and her blood pressure was dropping. The doctors found fluid in her lungs, and she had also developed CHF, which was a side effect of the CHOP. She had to wear a LifeVest (its a wearable defibrillator designed to monitor and shock the heart it to a normal rhythm if needed.)

This had set her back 3 months before we could start the next chemotherapy.

She had started a different chemotherapy, and it didn’t work (with that chemotherapy, we were traveling to Moffit every two weeks with a PET scan after 3 weeks ). She started again after three months. Now this one was for five consecutive days every three weeks. This is when we decided to move to Advent Health in Orlando to Dr.Gayle. (For convenience )

We had finished that chemo, and IT WORKED! The chemo worked, and she went into a bone marrow transplant ( this is what we worked so hard for, the hair loss, the vomiting, the hot flashes, losing the weight, gaining the weight, all these medicines, and the hospital stays).

But a month after the transplant, she had a PET scan, and it showed that the cancer was back and was aggressive. Now we were down to experimental drugs. The Doctor had prescribed Duvelisib. She had to take six pills a day and was on this drug for 6 months. It had worked as we were getting ready for transplant (because the whole purpose of this was so she could get the cancer to shrink small enough to have a bone marrow transplant), and we were ready to go when the coughing began and it didn’t go away, and then she developed a skin rash. So the transplant was put on hold.

She was in and out of the hospital for months, and it came out that it was side effects of the chemotherapy.

Catherine had to get off the drug without a transplant. But SHE was in remission for five months.

Now IT’s back (not so aggressive as it was before)

Cathrine is in a vulnerable state, and asking for help is never an easy thing to do. However, any amount no matter how small, can be beneficial to her recovery. She needs support to cover some essentials, like purchasing a reliable vehicle to get her to those appointments and to assist with daily necessities, including medical bills and medications. Right now, she is facing an incredibly difficult time as she has had to sacrifice and give up so much to get where she is right now. While her cancer doesn’t have a true cure, we are fighting for the days we get to enjoy with her.

If you can give, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. However, if you are unable to donate, even sharing this with others can be just as powerful!