Helping Nicole kick cancer's @$$!!!
Donation protected
UPDATED 8/9/19:
If you are reading this, then thank you, already, from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for the prayers, well wishes, baby sitting, food, donations, etc etc. We are so grateful to have amazing people in our lives. We can't imagine living life, raising children, and going through the ups and downs of it all without our TRIBE!! And that's exactly what you are, so - THANK YOU!!
Long story short, Nicole's breast cancer has recurred. After 7 years. This time, an MD Anderson appointment has confirmed that she has Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
Most of you know, our mother fought breast cancer for 20 years. And she fought HARD. And passed away from the ugly disease about 3.5 years ago (2015). We know what the fight looks like. And Nicole is going to FIGHT it, and she's going to win. But it won't be easy. The treatment is going to be brutal. And she's going to have a hard time taking care of herself through it, much less take care of her 4 very young children.
We are starting this Go Fund Me account to help her out during a very difficult treatment. Nicole began chemo, and it's rough. She will do a total of 20 weeks of "dose dense" chemo - which the doctor explained as "hit it hard to get rid of it fast"! In November, she will go back to MD Anderson for a mastectomy. Then hormone therapy. And then at some point, reconstructive surgery. It's going to be hard, both physically and emotionally. But we are going to do everything we can to get her through this!!!!
Funds we get through this campaign are being used to pay for a care giver that comes to Nicole's house during treatment weeks to help with the kids and anything and everything to make Nicole's stress level just a little bit lower during the treatment. Any additional funds will go towards any needs for the family be it diapers, helping pay the bills, etc. She won't be able to work during this time, and that's going to hit hard financially.
Below is Nicole's facebook post from 6/5/19 giving details and asking for prayers (yes, she’s crazy and sarcastic and hilarious… and that’s exactly what is going to get us through the upcoming tough treatment plan!!).
This is going to be a long “not happy” post, so prepare yourselves. Last week we had a wonderful visit from Charlotte and Don. While they were here I noticed some changes happening to the spot where I had breast cancer 7 years ago. Fast, scary changes. This was over Memorial Day weekend so no doctor offices were open. Steve and I decide to just call the west clinic and talk to the on-call doctor and let him know what’s going on just in case. By a seriously crazy coincidence it was my oncologist surgeon who happened to be on-call and who knows me well since I’m his youngest patient. He told me to send him pictures (yes, I hesitated texting boob pics to a random man, but quickly got over it since this could be serious...Steve and I had a good laugh about it later since I was supposed to send in “zoomed in pics,” and I was so frantic I was just sending him picture after picture of the whole show♀️). Anyway, he called me back, gave me his personal cell phone and said go to the ER and have the doctor call him on his cell phone. I knew it wasn’t good then....I knew the changes happening weren’t normal and this is bad. So I’ve spent the last week doing a million mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies, etc. I got the call this past Monday that I knew was coming...”I’m sorry Nicole, but it is cancer again.” So we (me, Steve, and Amber) spent all day at the west clinic today to go over results and talk to my surgeon and oncologist. It was a rollercoaster to say the least. One second I would have tears, the next I would make an inappropriate joke and get Amber and Steve laughing, the next I would be cussing at the women over disability paperwork, then staying pissed at my oncologist the whole time he talked. Thank God for Amber and Steve because after he tried to sugar coat, I tuned out and sat there pissed at the world. Luckily Amber sent us an email of all the notes she took, thank God, because I wouldn’t have remembered a single thing other than hating everyone. Ha!
So here’s the diagnosis/plan: I have invasive ductal carcinoma recurrence. Both hormones positive. Her2 is still unclear and will go for more testing to see if I’m negative or positive. I possibly have inflammatory cancer which means it’s in my skin and is very aggressive...although it depends on who you ask about that one....I think he said more testing to make sure. My surgeon says yes it’s a subtle inflammatory...That’s all I heard. This has been the ongoing argument since 8:30am between myself, Amber, and Steve. Ha! The spot they biopsied is about an inch and a half but it’s surrounded by a much larger mass that is either cancer or blood from the biopsy. Thank God it’s localized and shows no spreading to major organs or bones. Lymph nodes are slightly enlarged but that could be due a couple of things so we wait for surgery to find out if it’s in the lymph nodes.
Treatment plan: I go for echo to check my heart to make sure it’s strong enough for the poison (chemo) they are about to pump in me. Then a port a cath. I start chemo next week with the one our family knows and loves well (I’m being sarcastic), Adriamycin, which is also referred to as “the red devil.” I watched my mom on this one ....it’s brutal. So every two weeks I get hit with a hard dose of that for four times. Then weekly with another called Taxol every week for 12 weeks. He calls it the “dose dense” treatment.... “hit it hard and get rid of it fast.” After that would be double mastectomy then hormone therapy for 5-10 years. Then at some point reconstructive surgery. Possibly take my ovaries out as well. If chemo isn’t shrinking it, then we stop immediately and do the surgery. It’s really a lot to take in....and Amber’s notes are way better than what I just explained. But that’s where we are.
I felt the whole day consisted of bad news then good news then bad news then good news. Good news is that the recurrence is localized....bad news is it’s possible (I say possible for Amber and Steve’s benefit, although the doctor clearly said it was subtle inflammatory) inflammatory breast cancer. Good news is we hit it hard with chemo. Bad news is you’ll lose your hair in less than two weeks and be in bed for a few days feeling like you have the flu after each treatment. Good news is it’s slow growing! Bad news is because it’s so big we do chemo before surgery to try and shrink it. So good news, bad news all day. It was exhausting.
I really do so appreciate all of the love, texts, prayers, listening ears, babysitters, and just everyone who have helped me this past week. Way too many people to name, but you know who you are!!! Angela has had my kids for the last two days and by the time we got home today it made me laugh at how fast she was ready to hit the road. My kids are no walk in the park! Haha. Again, thank you to everyone that’s helped. Y’all have been Heaven sent. And thank you to my mom for listening to me talk to her while in the ct scans....I begged her for it not to spread, and thank God it didn’t. Please pray for my kids who are not going to understand all of this and how their lives are about to change. I clearly remember when my mom was first diagnosed...I believe I was 13-14? It changed our lives forever. So please pray for them to understand what they can and to go easy on their daddy. Please pray for Steve....again I’ve watched my dad go through this for 20 years and I always said it is the hardest on the spouse. He has to keep a brave face on for the kids....he has to care for 4 very young kids while their mommy is going to be very sick for months. He’s scared as I am too. So just please pray for us all to get through this nightmare once again. We see life differently today. We have a lot to discuss and let sink in. Thank you again for the prayers and support. We love you all so big! ❤
If you are reading this, then thank you, already, from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for the prayers, well wishes, baby sitting, food, donations, etc etc. We are so grateful to have amazing people in our lives. We can't imagine living life, raising children, and going through the ups and downs of it all without our TRIBE!! And that's exactly what you are, so - THANK YOU!!
Long story short, Nicole's breast cancer has recurred. After 7 years. This time, an MD Anderson appointment has confirmed that she has Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
Most of you know, our mother fought breast cancer for 20 years. And she fought HARD. And passed away from the ugly disease about 3.5 years ago (2015). We know what the fight looks like. And Nicole is going to FIGHT it, and she's going to win. But it won't be easy. The treatment is going to be brutal. And she's going to have a hard time taking care of herself through it, much less take care of her 4 very young children.
We are starting this Go Fund Me account to help her out during a very difficult treatment. Nicole began chemo, and it's rough. She will do a total of 20 weeks of "dose dense" chemo - which the doctor explained as "hit it hard to get rid of it fast"! In November, she will go back to MD Anderson for a mastectomy. Then hormone therapy. And then at some point, reconstructive surgery. It's going to be hard, both physically and emotionally. But we are going to do everything we can to get her through this!!!!
Funds we get through this campaign are being used to pay for a care giver that comes to Nicole's house during treatment weeks to help with the kids and anything and everything to make Nicole's stress level just a little bit lower during the treatment. Any additional funds will go towards any needs for the family be it diapers, helping pay the bills, etc. She won't be able to work during this time, and that's going to hit hard financially.
Below is Nicole's facebook post from 6/5/19 giving details and asking for prayers (yes, she’s crazy and sarcastic and hilarious… and that’s exactly what is going to get us through the upcoming tough treatment plan!!).
This is going to be a long “not happy” post, so prepare yourselves. Last week we had a wonderful visit from Charlotte and Don. While they were here I noticed some changes happening to the spot where I had breast cancer 7 years ago. Fast, scary changes. This was over Memorial Day weekend so no doctor offices were open. Steve and I decide to just call the west clinic and talk to the on-call doctor and let him know what’s going on just in case. By a seriously crazy coincidence it was my oncologist surgeon who happened to be on-call and who knows me well since I’m his youngest patient. He told me to send him pictures (yes, I hesitated texting boob pics to a random man, but quickly got over it since this could be serious...Steve and I had a good laugh about it later since I was supposed to send in “zoomed in pics,” and I was so frantic I was just sending him picture after picture of the whole show♀️). Anyway, he called me back, gave me his personal cell phone and said go to the ER and have the doctor call him on his cell phone. I knew it wasn’t good then....I knew the changes happening weren’t normal and this is bad. So I’ve spent the last week doing a million mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies, etc. I got the call this past Monday that I knew was coming...”I’m sorry Nicole, but it is cancer again.” So we (me, Steve, and Amber) spent all day at the west clinic today to go over results and talk to my surgeon and oncologist. It was a rollercoaster to say the least. One second I would have tears, the next I would make an inappropriate joke and get Amber and Steve laughing, the next I would be cussing at the women over disability paperwork, then staying pissed at my oncologist the whole time he talked. Thank God for Amber and Steve because after he tried to sugar coat, I tuned out and sat there pissed at the world. Luckily Amber sent us an email of all the notes she took, thank God, because I wouldn’t have remembered a single thing other than hating everyone. Ha!
So here’s the diagnosis/plan: I have invasive ductal carcinoma recurrence. Both hormones positive. Her2 is still unclear and will go for more testing to see if I’m negative or positive. I possibly have inflammatory cancer which means it’s in my skin and is very aggressive...although it depends on who you ask about that one....I think he said more testing to make sure. My surgeon says yes it’s a subtle inflammatory...That’s all I heard. This has been the ongoing argument since 8:30am between myself, Amber, and Steve. Ha! The spot they biopsied is about an inch and a half but it’s surrounded by a much larger mass that is either cancer or blood from the biopsy. Thank God it’s localized and shows no spreading to major organs or bones. Lymph nodes are slightly enlarged but that could be due a couple of things so we wait for surgery to find out if it’s in the lymph nodes.
Treatment plan: I go for echo to check my heart to make sure it’s strong enough for the poison (chemo) they are about to pump in me. Then a port a cath. I start chemo next week with the one our family knows and loves well (I’m being sarcastic), Adriamycin, which is also referred to as “the red devil.” I watched my mom on this one ....it’s brutal. So every two weeks I get hit with a hard dose of that for four times. Then weekly with another called Taxol every week for 12 weeks. He calls it the “dose dense” treatment.... “hit it hard and get rid of it fast.” After that would be double mastectomy then hormone therapy for 5-10 years. Then at some point reconstructive surgery. Possibly take my ovaries out as well. If chemo isn’t shrinking it, then we stop immediately and do the surgery. It’s really a lot to take in....and Amber’s notes are way better than what I just explained. But that’s where we are.
I felt the whole day consisted of bad news then good news then bad news then good news. Good news is that the recurrence is localized....bad news is it’s possible (I say possible for Amber and Steve’s benefit, although the doctor clearly said it was subtle inflammatory) inflammatory breast cancer. Good news is we hit it hard with chemo. Bad news is you’ll lose your hair in less than two weeks and be in bed for a few days feeling like you have the flu after each treatment. Good news is it’s slow growing! Bad news is because it’s so big we do chemo before surgery to try and shrink it. So good news, bad news all day. It was exhausting.
I really do so appreciate all of the love, texts, prayers, listening ears, babysitters, and just everyone who have helped me this past week. Way too many people to name, but you know who you are!!! Angela has had my kids for the last two days and by the time we got home today it made me laugh at how fast she was ready to hit the road. My kids are no walk in the park! Haha. Again, thank you to everyone that’s helped. Y’all have been Heaven sent. And thank you to my mom for listening to me talk to her while in the ct scans....I begged her for it not to spread, and thank God it didn’t. Please pray for my kids who are not going to understand all of this and how their lives are about to change. I clearly remember when my mom was first diagnosed...I believe I was 13-14? It changed our lives forever. So please pray for them to understand what they can and to go easy on their daddy. Please pray for Steve....again I’ve watched my dad go through this for 20 years and I always said it is the hardest on the spouse. He has to keep a brave face on for the kids....he has to care for 4 very young kids while their mommy is going to be very sick for months. He’s scared as I am too. So just please pray for us all to get through this nightmare once again. We see life differently today. We have a lot to discuss and let sink in. Thank you again for the prayers and support. We love you all so big! ❤
Fundraising team: Fundraiser Team (2)
Amber Ross Williams
Organizer
Memphis, TN
Nicole Blagburn
Beneficiary
Ashley Blagburn
Team member
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