Help our Mom (Debbie Barham) Fight Cancer

Have you ever gotten a phone call—you know the one.  The news is bad, the world suddenly feels like it is going in slow motion, yet you remember each feeling and sound.  It feels like you can’t breathe.

I remember exactly where I was when we got the phone call.  We thought it was her appendix.  I was standing in a client’s driveway.  A million thoughts popped in my head—the cars passing felt like they were going in slow motion.  It felt like I had been punched in the gut.

Our mom, and our kids’ beloved Dede, had just been diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer that  September day in 2019. 

It has been two years of some of the most emotional highs and gut-punching lows that we have ever walked through as a family. 

Two weeks ago, we were expecting a good news phone call.  It was supposed to be the last and final step of her journey: her surgeon reversing her ileostomy bag for life to “go back to normal”.  Yet during a preliminary test before surgery, we found out that there were some cancerous cells growing back.  Another gut punch when we were all expecting the words “Cancer Free”. 

We have consulted with top-notch physicians and after a lot of thought and prayer have determined the best treatment path for her but we need your help so that she can begin treatment as soon as possible as the cancer is behaving aggressively!  

The funds raised will go towards treatment costs, medical bills, and an upcoming 6+ week stay in the Atlanta area to undergo aggressive cancer treatment with her team of physicians.

Debbie’s Journey: 

After her initial diagnosis of Stage I/II, the prognosis was good with the proper treatment. Unfortunately, her initial doctors made some mis-steps in her treatment during the first few critical months after her diagnosis that necessitated the need to seek out multiple opinions and ultimately travel to Atlanta for the majority of her treatment.

A 4-month major surgery delay due to the Pandemic (her cancer surgery was classified as “elective”), followed by a botched surgery has now resulted in over a 23 month journey that is still not over.

After many months of chemo, radiation, and adjunct therapy, our hopes were high that her main surgery would be successful, but the surgeon explained it was one of his most difficult surgeries because of the complications early on from the mis-steps and that he could not get one of the margins “clean.” The good news was that nothing had spread to the lymph nodes or anywhere else at this point, but the fact that microscopic cells were left put Mom at a higher risk of recurrence.  

She has been vigilant to stay in contact with her oncologist and surgeon and pro-active with her at-home treatment, meds, supplements, bloodwork, and scans. After the surgery, the tumor board at the hospital thought she had enough chemo and radiation, so they wanted to adopt a wait and see approach after the surgery. We were definitely hesitant about that, but she was doing everything she could to keep it at bay and making plans for adjunct treatment. 

Unfortunately, the most recent scan revealed the microscopic cancer cells that were left behind were already spreading deposits in her abdominal area.

Although she has insurance, there have been so many extra expenses that their savings has been depleted. All the traveling expenses to and from Atlanta, living out-of-state for weeks at a time, high deductibles, extra medical treatments (including some expensive ones that were not covered by insurance), several surgeries, out of pocket medicines + supplements are just to name a few. 

We are desperate to get her to the doctors in Atlanta for more aggressive treatment to stop the progression of this cancer.  We are desperate to hear those words “Caner Free”.

We all remain optimistic, hopeful, and prayerful that she can begin this treatment very soon!  

Please help spread the word and share her story! We would also greatly appreciate your prayers on Mom’s behalf. If you are one who has been praying for her already, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. There have been many days when prayer and words of encouragement have carried us all through.

Thank you for your love, support, and kindness through this difficult trial! Please help our mom win this fight against cancer!