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January 26, 2017
Hello everyone, this is Severine here again to share some very unfortunate news, which apparently is just over a year after my last update here.
In November 2016, Leanne noticed that she could feel a lump in her abdomen. We didn’t panic, hoping it was merely scar tissue or perhaps fascia, but she went to get checked out so we could put our fears to rest. She had a blood test and a CT scan of the chest and abdomen. The blood test came back and indicated her tumour markers had shot up since her last test. Additionally, the CT showed a spot in her abdomen at the area she was experiencing discomfort, and they also discovered an unknown object lodged into the ureter in one of her kidneys, which unbeknownst to her, had been severely impeding the function of that kidney. Sadly, it was at this time we realized she was facing a recurrence of cancer.
Leanne began making preparations for treatment immediately but was faced with the challenge of her kidney. She visited a Urologist and had 3 unsuccessful attempts to install a stent in her kidney which delayed her cancer treatment by 1.5 months as each time she had to sit on a waiting list. Gradually, her health deteriorated over this time and we began to notice many of the symptoms she experienced the first time. We were given some slightly good news in that the object found in her kidney is not cancerous, but that also means that she is going to have to have surgery to remove it, and that won’t be for another 6 months.
Her and I had a lovely trip down to Oregon to celebrate her 40th birthday, but there was a dark cloud hanging over our heads the entire trip, knowing that upon our return, she had to face to ugly truth of her worsening condition. Things recently have gotten bad for Leanne. Her pain has reached near-unbearable levels, which have forced her to resort to narcotic pain killers like Hydromorphone and taken away her ability to be mobile or make it through a day at her very demanding job. This has obviously placed a huge strain on both of us and been incredibly emotional. That coupled with the fact that we’re dealing with the recent loss of our beloved kitty, Geroy. The burden on my shoulders currently is immense, as I am responsible for 100% of the work around the house, including meals, training our new puppy, caring for Leanne and everything in-between, in addition to my normal workload of 2 jobs, plus an active music career. I am emotionally and mentally exhausted.
Here we are, now in the latter part of January, and Leanne has just had first very first chemotherapy and naturopathic treatment. She has embarked on a new protocol that is a combination of different drugs from the previous protocol and only happens once per month, as opposed to once per week. Apparently it has different side-effects, but should not result in hair-loss. That said, she still needs to visit the Naturopath at least 2 times a month, ideally 3. As Leanne hasn’t been well enough to work in recent weeks, we are already starting to feel the financial pinch, and at $500 a visit, the naturopathic treatments will be impossible for us to sustain.
We are again appealing to the generosity of our friends and community to help us get through this incredibly difficult phase. We want to give Leanne the best possible chance and treatment options, so it is our explicit desire to continue the Naturopathic complimentary treatments and provide healthy organic meals to her, giving her body the best chance to fight the destructive side-effects of the Chemotherapy. We are both very proud and fiercely independent people, and would only be asking for help in an emergency, and this is just that. That is why we’ve waited until now to make this news public, we wanted to see if it was feasible for us to sustain things on our own. It simply is not.
Thank you to everyone for reading. Please wish for power for Leanne.
We love you.
Hello everyone, this is Severine here again to share some very unfortunate news, which apparently is just over a year after my last update here.
In November 2016, Leanne noticed that she could feel a lump in her abdomen. We didn’t panic, hoping it was merely scar tissue or perhaps fascia, but she went to get checked out so we could put our fears to rest. She had a blood test and a CT scan of the chest and abdomen. The blood test came back and indicated her tumour markers had shot up since her last test. Additionally, the CT showed a spot in her abdomen at the area she was experiencing discomfort, and they also discovered an unknown object lodged into the ureter in one of her kidneys, which unbeknownst to her, had been severely impeding the function of that kidney. Sadly, it was at this time we realized she was facing a recurrence of cancer.
Leanne began making preparations for treatment immediately but was faced with the challenge of her kidney. She visited a Urologist and had 3 unsuccessful attempts to install a stent in her kidney which delayed her cancer treatment by 1.5 months as each time she had to sit on a waiting list. Gradually, her health deteriorated over this time and we began to notice many of the symptoms she experienced the first time. We were given some slightly good news in that the object found in her kidney is not cancerous, but that also means that she is going to have to have surgery to remove it, and that won’t be for another 6 months.
Her and I had a lovely trip down to Oregon to celebrate her 40th birthday, but there was a dark cloud hanging over our heads the entire trip, knowing that upon our return, she had to face to ugly truth of her worsening condition. Things recently have gotten bad for Leanne. Her pain has reached near-unbearable levels, which have forced her to resort to narcotic pain killers like Hydromorphone and taken away her ability to be mobile or make it through a day at her very demanding job. This has obviously placed a huge strain on both of us and been incredibly emotional. That coupled with the fact that we’re dealing with the recent loss of our beloved kitty, Geroy. The burden on my shoulders currently is immense, as I am responsible for 100% of the work around the house, including meals, training our new puppy, caring for Leanne and everything in-between, in addition to my normal workload of 2 jobs, plus an active music career. I am emotionally and mentally exhausted.
Here we are, now in the latter part of January, and Leanne has just had first very first chemotherapy and naturopathic treatment. She has embarked on a new protocol that is a combination of different drugs from the previous protocol and only happens once per month, as opposed to once per week. Apparently it has different side-effects, but should not result in hair-loss. That said, she still needs to visit the Naturopath at least 2 times a month, ideally 3. As Leanne hasn’t been well enough to work in recent weeks, we are already starting to feel the financial pinch, and at $500 a visit, the naturopathic treatments will be impossible for us to sustain.
We are again appealing to the generosity of our friends and community to help us get through this incredibly difficult phase. We want to give Leanne the best possible chance and treatment options, so it is our explicit desire to continue the Naturopathic complimentary treatments and provide healthy organic meals to her, giving her body the best chance to fight the destructive side-effects of the Chemotherapy. We are both very proud and fiercely independent people, and would only be asking for help in an emergency, and this is just that. That is why we’ve waited until now to make this news public, we wanted to see if it was feasible for us to sustain things on our own. It simply is not.
Thank you to everyone for reading. Please wish for power for Leanne.
We love you.