As many of you know, my mom received a cancer diagnosis this past July. This news hit us all like a ton of bricks; just devastating to know my mom was about to face the biggest battle of her life. One thing I knew, though, is that she would not be fighting this alone. With her strong faith in God and the prayers from all of us that love and support her she WILL beat this!

Mom has multiple myeloma which is a type of blood cancer typically found in much older adults but has recently made a rise in numbers targeting people much younger. If caught early, as mom’s was thank God, it can be managed with maintenance therapy ONCE the cancer has reached a certain point to keep her in remission for a very long time. Unfortunately this cancer is still not to the point of being curable but we pray God will pave the way for a cure one day soon! Multiple Myeloma patients before mom paved the way to this treatment plan and mom hopes research through her treatment will pave an even better way for people with Multiple Myeloma in the future. The Drs don’t know how long mom will stay in remission but this bone marrow transplant is her best chance at the longest remission with this kind of cancer. She has been doing targeted chemo treatments since July and her most recent bone marrow biopsy shows that cancer cells went from 80% to below 5%! God has been so good! The next step of this process (to get her to what they call “complete remission”) mom will be going through a bone marrow transplant which began today (March 1st) at UK in Lexington. This is a 100 day process for her including an extended hospital stay. I will do my best to keep everyone updated on this process along the way! Luckily, doctors are able to use mom’s stem cells and she does NOT need a donor. That is a blessing within itself!❤️

Since mom’s diagnosis, many people have asked what they can do to help and up to this point we’ve only asked for prayers. As we turn into the next chapter of her cancer battle, we recently learned that she will be off work longer than expected, and as she’s considered self-employed, she will be receiving little to no income during that time. Of course bills do not stop coming and she will have extra expenses for gas, food, lodging etc. that insurance doesn’t cover. We are giving it all to God and trusting that he will provide and potentially call others to help during this time as well. As many of her family and friends continue to follow her progress, many have said they would love to help and have suggested having a benefit “as a way to bless her when there is nothing physical they can do to make it better.”

Mom would like to share that prayers are the most important to her and that is what she wants most of all but if you feel in your heart to give to this particular need she is grateful for any additional help. This has definitely been a very humbling experience and a huge eye opener for all of us to NEVER take time for granted. I’m thankful that I was able to move back to Kentucky and be mom’s caregiver during this time therefore my family and I will also be staying in Lexington during this time so that I can be there for her through this entire process. Another example of how God makes a way for “His way.” Family first!❤️

Thank you all so very much for all your love and support you have shown to mom and the rest of the family during this time.

1 Corinthians 13:13 “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love,”