My story begins at my diagnosis of Stage IV Colon Cancer on March 20, 2014. I had an ultrasound in January 2014 for my gall bladder as the doctor thought that might be the cause of my constant nausea. They believed anemia was the cause of my tiredness and had put me on iron pills to alleviate that. The ultrasound of my gall bladder revealed nodules in my liver. A liver biopsy was ordered and revealed to be cancer that had metastasized from the colon. I had a colonoscopy to identify the extent of the tumor there. I then started on a regime of chemotherapy, Folfox. I was on that twice a month for six months. I then went on 5-FU twice a month for another six months. The tumors started to grow again while on the lower chemotherapy, 5-FU. I was then put on the heavier chemotherapy Folfiri. I was on this twice a month for six months. I then was on 5-FU for a small turn. They decided to try out a new chemotherapy drug, Lonsurf, to see if I responded to it in the Spring of 2016. I had a scan done in June/July of 2016 that showed that the Lonsurf did not affect the tumor and that I now had a sizable tumor in my liver, though the colon tumor was gone. It was decided to have a liver resection to remove the tumor and any other tumor they could find. So in August 2016 I had liver resection surgery done and the surgeon was confident they removed all present tumors. I then had a scan done on December 2016 which revealed that while the surgery had removed the tumors from August, there were now 20+ new tumors in my liver and several new smaller ones in both of my lungs.

Our next step is to have a liver biopsy done to test for chemosensitivity on the tumors to see if certain chemotherapies will affect them more than others. Then I will start on chemotherapy again and hopefully some immunotherapy drugs that will help my immune system better fight the tumors. My CEA count (blood cancer marker) is the highest its has ever been at just over 1000. We will continue to work toward healing and survival.

The funds recieved will help us to pay for the integrative portion of my care. For the last 2.75 years we have been able to pay for trips and the integrative portion because we were able to cash in a life insurance policy I had. Unfortunately we have tapped it out. God provides and I know many people have asked how they can help. The prayers have been beneficial and if you feel led to help out financially we will be blessed by your generosity.

Some people might ask "why continue with the integrative part if you can not afford it?"; ,my husband had an acquaintance that told him he had no costs for his wife's cancer treatment as they had just chosen the isurance paid clinical treatment. That man's wife is dead. My family is not ready for me to leave this world yet; so I'll continue to fight and try what will work. I have already lived nine months longer than my initial survival date and hopefully will live long enough to see all my children grown.