Overwhelmed. There are two ends of the spectrum of how that word is used, both in a positive sense and negative. We exist on both ends of that spectrum this last week. The news of cancer spreading was crushing, but the response of people everywhere to help support us was nothing short of amazing. That said, we want to be good stewards of the financial blessings we have been given and give updates as to what it is needed for.
This first post of two will be the state of the state. The facts about what has happened this past week and what we plan to do going forward. Part two will be “The Feels”, the thought process and emotions that go with this journey. Before we dive into the probable treatment plan, I want to explain the insanity of the month of January. Here is a step by step timeline of the chaos…
1/3/23- Eliz has Mammogram of left breast (non-cancer side) and they find a new small spot that looks benign. Opt to biopsy to be sure.
1/11/23- MRI of the liver at 9:00 am. At 8:30pm received call stating the spot on the liver more than doubled in size.
1/18/23- met with Oncologist on results. Decide to do surgery to cut out spot on liver. Schedule calls/consults with several integrative/alternative treatment centers on next steps.
1/19 at 6:00pm- Post the news and ask for help with treatment cost
1/20 at 1pm and 7pm- piles of packages arrive from the amazon wish list.. those piles continued to show up for four days
1/21 at 8pm 50 HOURS LATER WE HIT OUR INITIAL GOAL OF $50,000… mind blown.
1/22- check coffee orders and find out we have more orders in than green coffee in stock! Many new coffee customers from our suggestion. Wow.
1/23- A good friend of Duncan’s got baptized then a bunch of studly dudes prayed over him for Elizabeth with tears. More on this later.
1/25- Breast biopsy
1/26- 9am Met with top liver surgeon at Henry Ford main in Detroit. Orders EKG, Chest X-ray, and bloodwork before we leave to expedite the process. On our way home we get a call saying the spot on the breast from the biopsy the day before was benign. 20 minutes later get another call stating there was an “abnormality in the lungs” on the chest x-ray so they ordered a CT scan.
1/27- 8am CT scan. 1pm call saying the two spots on the right lung are likely damage from the radiation she had and very unlikely to be cancer.
What is coming:
This Wednesday 2/1/23 is her liver surgery where they will remove the tumor and look for any other cancer present. This is outpatient surgery (crazy huh?!) so she will go home same day or at worst, the next morning. The procedure is similar to a gallbladder surgery.
Next up, three weeks of integrative treatment at a top tier facility in Mexico, likely in early to mid-March. We had a list of several options but one jumped out to us because of a few factors. First, it works well with current treatment plans. She doesn’t have to stop doing conventional treatment she is currently doing. Second, it has a whole body health approach (trainer Duncan likes this). Third, they do a ton of testing to customize the treatment plan to what is happening in her body. Fourth, they educate you on how to continue living out the treatment plan forever. Three weeks isn’t going to mean much if you go home and don’t do maintenance. And finally, they blanket everything in Hope. While no promises can ever be made about an outcome, they approach all therapies and treatments as a hope for cure and better tomorrow. Their outlook is let’s do everything to try to cure, instead of try things to just extend life a little bit. This is vital to beating the odds.
We have been overwhelmed- in a good way -by how much support we have gotten. We are truly blown away how amazing people are. We will need every bit of it. The cost of the treatment is around $50,000 and this doesn’t include flights, home treatment devices, or ongoing supplement/medication therapies. Everyone is different in their needs after treatment, but estimates are $600-$1500 per month indefinitely for maintenance. So while we have now covered the cost of the treatment with the initial fundraiser, we’re continuing to gather support to extend the runway of keeping her healthy long into the future. We have several different community type fundraisers planned so if you want to keep in the loop on when those are you can join the e-blast below.
Oof… that’s a lot of details but not much could have been left out of that. I’m going to take a nap now. I’ll post Part 2 tomorrow on “The Feels”. Until then, much love.
-Dunc & Eliz