Welcome to my "GoFundMe" page! I am honored that you would take the time to learn about me and my battle with cancer.
I am a 45 year old stay-at-home wife and mother of 3. My husband and caregiver is Timothy Griffith, we have been married for almost 24 years. You are welcome to check us out on FaceBook, just click on the link.
My battle with cancer began in February 2011 when I found some lumps in my right breast. In April we received the diagnosis: Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, estrogen fed, and HER 2 positive. There were 2 tumors over 1 cm each. After a few days of crying and much prayer, my husband and I decided to research both conventional and alternative cancer treatments. The decision was mine to make and I chose alternative treatments. This lead us to North Carolina for testing and counsel, and then on to Ohio for cryo ablation surgery (freezing of tumors). The surgery was in May and then we returned home to heal and start a vegan diet along with lots of carrot juicing.
All went well for about a year and a half. I was feeling so good that I decided to start adding back some of the foods I had avoided. Eventually, I slipped back into some of my old eating habits while continuing to drink lots of carrot juice. What I didn't realize was that my body could no longer tolerate sugar and I had a candida overgrowth in my intestines and bloodstream. You see, cancer thrives on sugar. Not only was I eating sugary food, but I was drinking a lot of sugary carrot juice. I was feeding the cancer not realizing that it was spreading like a wildfire inside my body.
This brings us to December of 2013 when the pinky of my right hand went numb. In the next few months I lost the use of all my fingers and ended up with a claw hand. The pain was so excruciating that I couldn't sleep or touch anything with my hand. After several visits with a neuro surgeon I had surgery done in July 2014 on both my elbow and wrist.
Shortly after the surgery I decided it would be a good idea to get a thorough physical and blood work done to see what was going on with the cancer. That's when I found out that the cancer had matastisized into my shoulder, neck, chest wall, stomach, hip, and liver. The prognosis was not good and my oncologist could offer me no hope for survival. Again, we did more research and ended up in AZ for cancer treatment that combines both alternative and conventional treatments. We arrived in August 2014 for 12 weeks of treatment.
When we arrived at the clinic I could not walk on my own, I could not talk without coughing, I had trouble breathing, my liver was swollen the size of a football, I could not straighten my arm or hand, my legs and arm were swollen and full of fluid, I was jaundice, I couldn't eat, had lost 16 lbs without trying, I was in constant pain all over my body, and I could barely sleep in one position.
I was dying.
As of today, I am happy to report that my cancer numbers are almost in the normal range. I am not in remission yet. I am at home with my family trying my best to fight this cancer. Some days I do very well and some days I just want to give up. I am still dealing with neuropathy in my right arm and I am undergoing a couple conventional treatments that make me feel pretty lousy most of the time. I drink a lot of green juice and very little cooked food. I am avoiding sugar as best I can, and following the advice and counsel of my doctor in AZ. The battle is not over...
This brings me to the reason I decided to set up this fund raiser. I am doing this not for me, but for my husband. As I mentioned earlier, my husband is my caregiver. He has had to sacrifice his time, his work, his health, and his family to take care of me. He helps me get dressed, ties my shoes, puts my earrings in, makes my juice, administers enemas 2 times a day, holds me when I am in pain or depressed, feeds the kids, keeps everything organized, drives me to my doctor appointments, pays the bills, and the list goes on...he does all of this while working three jobs and barely making ends meet.
As you can see, our cancer treatment bills are enormous. My health insurance covers very little of the treatments we get in AZ. We were forced to come home in October because we ran out of funds and resources for funds even though we received many monetary gifts from family and friends for which we are truly grateful.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I never thought we would be in a position to have to beg for money, but here we are. We have learned so many great lessons and met so many wonderful people because of cancer. I pray we will continue to do so. If you have any questions, please post them on FaceBook and I will answer them as best I can.
God's blessings to you!
I am a 45 year old stay-at-home wife and mother of 3. My husband and caregiver is Timothy Griffith, we have been married for almost 24 years. You are welcome to check us out on FaceBook, just click on the link.
My battle with cancer began in February 2011 when I found some lumps in my right breast. In April we received the diagnosis: Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, estrogen fed, and HER 2 positive. There were 2 tumors over 1 cm each. After a few days of crying and much prayer, my husband and I decided to research both conventional and alternative cancer treatments. The decision was mine to make and I chose alternative treatments. This lead us to North Carolina for testing and counsel, and then on to Ohio for cryo ablation surgery (freezing of tumors). The surgery was in May and then we returned home to heal and start a vegan diet along with lots of carrot juicing.
All went well for about a year and a half. I was feeling so good that I decided to start adding back some of the foods I had avoided. Eventually, I slipped back into some of my old eating habits while continuing to drink lots of carrot juice. What I didn't realize was that my body could no longer tolerate sugar and I had a candida overgrowth in my intestines and bloodstream. You see, cancer thrives on sugar. Not only was I eating sugary food, but I was drinking a lot of sugary carrot juice. I was feeding the cancer not realizing that it was spreading like a wildfire inside my body.
This brings us to December of 2013 when the pinky of my right hand went numb. In the next few months I lost the use of all my fingers and ended up with a claw hand. The pain was so excruciating that I couldn't sleep or touch anything with my hand. After several visits with a neuro surgeon I had surgery done in July 2014 on both my elbow and wrist.
Shortly after the surgery I decided it would be a good idea to get a thorough physical and blood work done to see what was going on with the cancer. That's when I found out that the cancer had matastisized into my shoulder, neck, chest wall, stomach, hip, and liver. The prognosis was not good and my oncologist could offer me no hope for survival. Again, we did more research and ended up in AZ for cancer treatment that combines both alternative and conventional treatments. We arrived in August 2014 for 12 weeks of treatment.
When we arrived at the clinic I could not walk on my own, I could not talk without coughing, I had trouble breathing, my liver was swollen the size of a football, I could not straighten my arm or hand, my legs and arm were swollen and full of fluid, I was jaundice, I couldn't eat, had lost 16 lbs without trying, I was in constant pain all over my body, and I could barely sleep in one position.
I was dying.
As of today, I am happy to report that my cancer numbers are almost in the normal range. I am not in remission yet. I am at home with my family trying my best to fight this cancer. Some days I do very well and some days I just want to give up. I am still dealing with neuropathy in my right arm and I am undergoing a couple conventional treatments that make me feel pretty lousy most of the time. I drink a lot of green juice and very little cooked food. I am avoiding sugar as best I can, and following the advice and counsel of my doctor in AZ. The battle is not over...
This brings me to the reason I decided to set up this fund raiser. I am doing this not for me, but for my husband. As I mentioned earlier, my husband is my caregiver. He has had to sacrifice his time, his work, his health, and his family to take care of me. He helps me get dressed, ties my shoes, puts my earrings in, makes my juice, administers enemas 2 times a day, holds me when I am in pain or depressed, feeds the kids, keeps everything organized, drives me to my doctor appointments, pays the bills, and the list goes on...he does all of this while working three jobs and barely making ends meet.
As you can see, our cancer treatment bills are enormous. My health insurance covers very little of the treatments we get in AZ. We were forced to come home in October because we ran out of funds and resources for funds even though we received many monetary gifts from family and friends for which we are truly grateful.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I never thought we would be in a position to have to beg for money, but here we are. We have learned so many great lessons and met so many wonderful people because of cancer. I pray we will continue to do so. If you have any questions, please post them on FaceBook and I will answer them as best I can.
God's blessings to you!