Sam's Journey To Defeating Cancer
Donation protected
[Overview: Cancer, Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy, Spinal Surgery]
This past year has been a very difficult season, due to my husband Sam’s diagnosis of cancer. It started in December 2018, when Sam began to deal with a lot of pain in his right hip and right knee.
In January 2019, Sam and I started to make appointments to locate the problem. After multiple tests and scans, the doctors found a large tumor on his lower spine; it was entangled to the spinal cord and connected to several nerves.
After seeing how large the tumor was and how much pain it was causing Sam, Sam's doctor suggested that they test the tumor for malignancy. So, Sam had a biopsy done and they found that the tumor was indeed cancerous.
Filled with shock and emotion, Sam and I did all we knew how to do, which is pray. We prayed together, processed the situation with each other, and consulted our family and pastors for guidance.
After some time processing and praying with family and pastors, Sam agreed to proceed with the doctor's medical plan, which was Chemotherapy. We decided to get married earlier than originally planned, in order to support one another as husband and wife through the process.
On June 6th-8th, 2019 Sam had his first round of chemotherapy. We continued chemo every 3 weeks, 3 days at a time, for 6 weeks, for a total of three rounds. After chemo we had new scans taken, only to find out that the chemo did not work the way it was expected to, and the tumor had grown.
Our next step in treatment was radiation. We did that every day, 5 days a week for a total of 5 weeks.
After those 5 weeks, we had new scans taken. Much to our dismay, the tumor was still there. The only other option to get the tumor out, was surgery, which leads us to this past Friday.
Sam just underwent a major spinal surgery on Friday (November 8th, 2019).
The surgery was a success and after 11 hours of surgery the tumor and cancer was removed!! He is now in the recovery stage.
This surgery is expected to have him hospitalized for the next 5-10 days. The doctor suggested that he takes off of work for the next 3 months to recover and do physical therapy. I have taken off the whole month of November so I am able to care for him in these next few crucial weeks.
We just want to give all the glory to God through all of this. Sam was told some very scary things and was told of how bad the effects of chemo and radiation would be. Although he did have some side effects such as losing all of his hair, fatigue, and nausea, through it all you would never have known he had cancer by how he carried himself. He was able to still go to work, continue his graduate program, remain active in our community, go to the gym, and even play basketball and football…a true testament to our God’s faithfulness!
We hope that this post does not make anyone pity or feel bad for us, but instead it boosts your faith just as it has boosted ours through this season! We appreciate everyone who has supported us through this process, and thank everyone in advance for all the help and donations!
We plan to use the donations to pay for the medical bills that have accumulated over this past year, to help while Sam and I are out of work, and all the medical bills to come after surgery.
Thank you everyone!
Sam and Alianna Mukau.
WEDDING DAY
HOSPITAL
LOSS OF HAIR...
HAIR GREW BACK :)
This past year has been a very difficult season, due to my husband Sam’s diagnosis of cancer. It started in December 2018, when Sam began to deal with a lot of pain in his right hip and right knee.
In January 2019, Sam and I started to make appointments to locate the problem. After multiple tests and scans, the doctors found a large tumor on his lower spine; it was entangled to the spinal cord and connected to several nerves.
After seeing how large the tumor was and how much pain it was causing Sam, Sam's doctor suggested that they test the tumor for malignancy. So, Sam had a biopsy done and they found that the tumor was indeed cancerous.
Filled with shock and emotion, Sam and I did all we knew how to do, which is pray. We prayed together, processed the situation with each other, and consulted our family and pastors for guidance.
After some time processing and praying with family and pastors, Sam agreed to proceed with the doctor's medical plan, which was Chemotherapy. We decided to get married earlier than originally planned, in order to support one another as husband and wife through the process.
On June 6th-8th, 2019 Sam had his first round of chemotherapy. We continued chemo every 3 weeks, 3 days at a time, for 6 weeks, for a total of three rounds. After chemo we had new scans taken, only to find out that the chemo did not work the way it was expected to, and the tumor had grown.
Our next step in treatment was radiation. We did that every day, 5 days a week for a total of 5 weeks.
After those 5 weeks, we had new scans taken. Much to our dismay, the tumor was still there. The only other option to get the tumor out, was surgery, which leads us to this past Friday.
Sam just underwent a major spinal surgery on Friday (November 8th, 2019).
The surgery was a success and after 11 hours of surgery the tumor and cancer was removed!! He is now in the recovery stage.
This surgery is expected to have him hospitalized for the next 5-10 days. The doctor suggested that he takes off of work for the next 3 months to recover and do physical therapy. I have taken off the whole month of November so I am able to care for him in these next few crucial weeks.
We just want to give all the glory to God through all of this. Sam was told some very scary things and was told of how bad the effects of chemo and radiation would be. Although he did have some side effects such as losing all of his hair, fatigue, and nausea, through it all you would never have known he had cancer by how he carried himself. He was able to still go to work, continue his graduate program, remain active in our community, go to the gym, and even play basketball and football…a true testament to our God’s faithfulness!
We hope that this post does not make anyone pity or feel bad for us, but instead it boosts your faith just as it has boosted ours through this season! We appreciate everyone who has supported us through this process, and thank everyone in advance for all the help and donations!
We plan to use the donations to pay for the medical bills that have accumulated over this past year, to help while Sam and I are out of work, and all the medical bills to come after surgery.
Thank you everyone!
Sam and Alianna Mukau.
WEDDING DAY
HOSPITAL
LOSS OF HAIR...
HAIR GREW BACK :)
Organizer
Samuel Mukau
Organizer
Raleigh, NC