Please Help Support Us On My Cancer Journey

This is going to be a small book, but I want everyone to know the base of my journey. Some of you know I have been battling stage 3 colon cancer for over a year now. After undergoing a colectomy in September 2022, I began 6 months of intense chemo - three days a week every other week. It was the hardest trial of my life, but I had made it. At the end of March, I rang the bell and thought my fight was done. But it wasn't. Less than 2 months later I began having severe pain in my lower abdomen again. My colon cancer had spread to my reproductive area, which was a shock to everyone considering the chemo treatment I had completed was known to be the most effective for my cancer type. My blood work has always been perfect, and my tumor markers were clear. The only reason we knew I had cancer was the huge tumors being removed from my body. After the second surgery, I began immunotherapy (something we had turned down previously because I didn't want it to adversely affect my autoimmune disease - I have a mild case of MS). The risk was now worth it. Unfortunately, after a few treatments we saw the cancer was growing very aggressively and not responding to treatment. It was then we realized I needed some major intervention because the future was very grim. I was referred to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas - a place I now wish I could have gone to from the start. This cancer center is one the top ranked centers in the entire world. I went there for a week for scans and testing to prepare for what is to come, and there were people there from all over the world. It was incredible. The treatment I am going to go through with MDA is referred to as the mother of all surgeries there. The surgery is scheduled for the end of November. It is a very invasive procedure called the HIPEC procedure. Within a 12-hour surgery I will be cut open and closed back up twice. They will open me up to remove all tumors and sew me up, and then inflate my abdomen to fill me with heated chemo. After a 90-minute chemo bath they will open me up again to remove the tubes to do a final close with staples. What also makes my surgery complicated is the location of the tumors. Besides being in my reproductive area there are also tumors in the omentum and peritoneum. But thankfully the surgeon I have specializes in that specific type. It is a 10-day mandatory stay in the hospital and then I must remain in the area for a minimum of 3 weeks - that is if there are no complications. There is a 40% chance of major complications. The recovery period for me to begin to feel decent again is 5-8 months. What I must go through still makes everything I have been through so far look like a walk in the park. This next year is going to be rough, but my faith is strong and I am determined. My family has supported us and we have been able to stay afloat so far, but we are at the point that we need help. If you know me, you know I am not the one to ask. If you are able, to please help support our household with the many travel and medical costs we are enduring through this time. We have a long road ahead and any help and all prayers is greatly appreciated.

All my thanks and love,

Brittnee