At the beginning of September, Lindsey (my twin sister and best friend) went to the ER for shortness of breath. This ER visit brought on so many tests, scans, blood draws, a transfer of care to Omaha, and finally a diagnosis of mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma. On October 14, Lindsey's oncologist called and said to plan on staying after her October 15 appointment to begin chemotherapy. At this point, the plan is to do six rounds of chemo. Each round involves four days of 24-hour chemo, followed by a booster which will be one more day. All of this will occur in Omaha.

Lindsey was hesitant about a GoFundMe, but with everyone reaching out to see how they could help, I thought this seemed to be the best option. Due to her shortness of breath, appointments, VATS procedure and recovery, and now chemo, Lindsey hasn't been able to work since the beginning of October. And let's face it, returning to an elementary school with a compromised immune system is not a great idea :)

This time is stressful enough, so I wanted to do this for her to cover all the travel expenses and her lost wages. No one deserves cancer, but especially not her. She is the absolute best and we all appreciate any support you can offer her (as well as Mark and the kids) during this time.

No one can tell Lindsey's story like she can, so here it is in her own words:

Life has thrown us a curve ball. On September 9, I dropped the kids off at school, and I checked myself into the ER because I had been short of breath. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a fast walker, I bound up steps, and overall am very high energy. I couldn't run up the steps at work, and I was getting winded on walks. It was annoying Anyway, the ER doc was incredible and promised me that she would get to the bottom of it. After many tests, scans, and blood draws, the doctors found a large tumor behind my sternum that was pressing on my lungs and heart. I had a biopsy that day and was told we would know more in a week when they got those results, but it was looking like lymphoma. It’s crazy how quickly your world can be rocked. All of a sudden all the trips we had planned were canceled and routines were upset.

A week later, we went to the oncologist's office with our notebooks expecting answers. Instead, we were told the biopsy was being sent to Mayo Clinic because they couldn’t quite tell the subtype of lymphoma.

I was scheduled for a PET Scan later that week. We went back to the oncologist's office a week later just hoping for answers. Again, we got very few answers. The PET Scan showed all cancer was localized to the bulky tumor in my chest - Praise God it wasn’t anywhere else! Mayo still couldn’t determine the subtype because there were too many dead cells in the biopsy. This was three weeks of waiting, worrying, and continuing to have difficulty breathing.

My case was transferred to a team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha at 4:30 pm on September 29 and things finally started moving! We met with the team at UNMC on September 30. The biopsy that was taken on September 9 wasn’t any good and they needed a bigger chunk of the tumor to analyze.

We went to Omaha on Sunday, October 5, stayed in a hotel, and arrived at UNMC bright and early on October 6 for the VATS procedure. After a procedure that I would NOT recommend, they were able to get a good chunk of the tumor. The recovery was really tough: breathing is hard after your lung gets deflated. We only stayed in the hospital for one night, which was such a blessing because after 8 nights at home I returned to UNMC to begin chemo. We spent October 15 going to various appointments around Omaha and then swung by the airport to pick up Lexi who is staying for the first round of treatment--she brought a huge suitcase filled with fun and an emotional support cow for me--we'll see how this goes :)

Definitely not how I expected my fall to go. One of the hardest parts has been waiting for weeks and weeks and still not having a plan - I love a good plan! There have been lots of tears, and lots of extra snuggles. It has definitely put life into perspective.

I’m so thankful for my faith! Right after we learned about the tumor we were in mass and the entire homily was about offering your sufferings up to God…Mark and I walked out of church as the kids ran to the car and said, “Well that hit a little too close to home!” But truly, I know God will see me through this and that I’m not alone! That is an incredible gift!

I am overwhelmed by all of the support that I have received. From the flowers, to care packages, to dinners, to helping drop-off and pick-up our kiddos…THANK YOU! We will continue to rely on all your love, support, and PRAYERS!

I have been so touched by the kindness and generosity of others. Just to warn you all, I tend to cry when people are kind, so I’ve been a hot mess for over a month! Sometimes I can talk about all of this without tears, and other times I’d rather be distracted by anything else!

Please pray for my kids and Mark as well! Please pray for my doctors, surgeons, nurses, and caregivers, as they work to eliminate all cancer from my body. Also, please pray for safe travels as we will be making many trips back and forth to Omaha and for family as they travel to NE to help out.

“Do not fear the road ahead, for God walks with you. His hand will guide you, and His grace will sustain you through every trial.” -Deuteronomy 31:6