Natasha Fighting the Good Fight

As some of you know, Natasha started to feel poorly in early January of this year. She developed an inexplicable cough that got progressively worse, started getting waves of exhaustion even after periods of long rest, and kept waking up covered in cold sweat. Natasha went to see her general doctor after she pulled some muscles over her ribs from the coughing fits. The initial visit with her doctor put all her worries to rest. He assured her that she's "young and healthy" and nothing will be seriously wrong with her for many decades to come. He suspected that she was having allergies or maybe developing asthma. After a few more fruitless appointments and many different prescriptions to control the cough, she finally noticed a physical lump at the base of the hallow in her throat. At that point, the doctor ordered an ultrasound of the lump. After that, he ordered a CT scan and then a PET scan. Things were happening quickly now and the fact that Natasha should be "young and healthy" (and has eaten all organic food for the last decade) added a sense of urgency. After the PET scan, she got a call from a thoracic surgeon who explained what the imagines were showing: a large mediastinal mass behind the breastbone.  He shared a few educated guesses about what it could be- thymic carcinoma, germ-cell tumor, or lymphoma. After almost 4 months of wondering, Natasha's worst fear came true - it was indeed the dreadful C-word. Cancer. Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Natasha has been a School Psychologist at Roseville City School District for the last few years and because her coughing fits were so severe, she could not finish out the school year. For her 31st birthday (on May 18th), she got the worst (best) present ever - her first chemo treatment! At this point the tumor is very large and covers half of her chest (on her tiny 5 foot frame). Although the treatments seem to be working so far and the her medical team is hopeful, there are some truly awful side effects - like excessive sense of exhaustion, 15 pound weight loss, insomnia, loss of appetite, to name a few. However, despite all this - Natasha's outlook and gratitude for this experience brings one to tears. 

From Natasha's blog  [on waiting for a diagnosis]:

"Friends and family, I can tell you that I have never lived through a more difficult time than the last several weeks. This may give away our current reading list with Liev, but Dr. Seuss describes a most horrid and useless place in the book "Oh The Places You'll Go!" - the Waiting Place. But as good as the man is with writing a tongue-twisting rhyme, he was wrong about that place being useless. For me, God has made that Waiting Place a room where He met me with a warm, reassuring embrace. My Heavenly Father held me in His grip as I wept of fear, as I mourned my failing health, and as I stroked the curls on my son's head with one hand and held my husband's hand with the other. All of God's promises that were always more abstract than reality suddenly were ablaze in our life. God also sent a flood of love and support from family and friends, our church community, and work friends and supervisors. I've never felt so frail and yet so supported. Every night Mike and I said words of gratitude to our Savior for loving us, and then we would beg for His mercy with a favorable diagnosis."

Mike graduated with his Masters degree in School Psychology the same day Natasha started treatment - an amazing day that's as painful as it is sweet. As he continues to search for his first post-graduate job and they both invest all the energy they have into fighting the good fight against cancer and raising their clever/beautiful 3.5 year old son , unfortunately - bills don't wait for the right time. Between the medical procedures, testing, endless doctors appointments, and Natasha's leave of absence from work - this is definitely going to be a financial burden on their shoulders. (The chemo treatment is scheduled every 2 weeks for the next 6 months). 

We (Oselsky and Borisov families) would like to give the gift to Natasha, Mike and Liev, the gift that keeps on giving - with the peace of mind that they can go into the this journey with Natasha and not have to worry about finances and even more importantly, they can remain focused on fighting the good fight. 

We ask that you join our family in supporting Natasha's cause in taking one thing off her plate. Natasha writes, "As we embark on this journey, I want my friends and family to know that I feel so loved. God has given me peace and a certainty that He will never leave me, but instead will guide and hold me through this trial."

Thank you for loving and supporting our beautiful, brilliant, fierce, and brave Natasha as she kicks Hodgkin Lymphoma's butt.