It is with heavy hearts that we let our family and friends know that our crazy, silly, loving, and selfless 54 year old mom, Debbie has recently been diagnosed with Stage 3 Ovarian Cancer. This was a shock to our family, as she didn’t start showing symptoms until about two weeks before her diagnosis when her stomach filled up with cancerous fluid. After many CT scans, blood tests, and a scope that’s was done on Thursday, March 11th, we now know that the cancer is in an advanced stage and has spread to the whole lining of her stomach, part of her rectum and small intestine, and her spleen. Initially the Oncologist was hoping that the scope would show minimal spreading of the cancer so they could do a whole hysterectomy followed by 6 rounds of chemo, but instead she will need to start chemo today, Friday, March 12th because of how advanced it is. The Oncologist has recommended that my mom do the “sandwich” approach by doing 3 to 4 rounds of chemo, once every three weeks to help kill the cancer before having her big surgery. The surgery will take up to 9 hours and the recovery time is about 8 weeks. She will then also have to go through 3 to 4 more rounds of chemo to be sure they are able to kill as much of the cancer as they can. This has been a very difficult time for my family and I, because Debbie is an amazing, mom, wife, grandma, and friend to so many, and we don’t want to see her suffering. At this time, we are hoping to receive as many prayers and positive thoughts because we know that this is only the beginning. Since my mom was diagnosed with stage 3, there is a 70-90% chance she will get it again and the survival rate is about 5 years after being diagnosed.
For those of you that don’t know too much about Ovarian Cancer, it is the 5th leading cause of cancer related death in the US in women. It is usually found in later stages because the symptoms are very mild, if any, and could be misdiagnosed. For more information on Ovarian Cancer, visit https://ocrahope.org.
Our family will be taking a big financial hit, as my mom will be out of work for well over 6 months or more. My dad will have to take off time from work as well to care for her. Your donation will go towards medical bills and to help with any other bills while my mom is off work. We appreciate each and everyone one of you that is thinking of and praying for my mom. She truly is such a unique and amazing soul. Let’s kick cancer’s butt!
