Christy Morrison- Fight to Beat Cancer
Donation protected
Hello all- we’ve created this page to help our beautiful, amazing, and strong mom while she is in the fight for her life against an extremely rare and aggressive cancer- Stage 4 metastatic carcinoma with an unknown primary. She has been put through so much over the last year- surgeries, radiation, and chemo. With everything she’s been through, she still has the most positive and bad ass attitude of anyone we’ve ever met.
Our mom started having back pain in February 2018. She was told it was possibly sciatic nerve pain and given some stretches. Fast forward to May 2018. While we were in Washington DC to honor Nick’s name being put on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, the pain in her back became excruciating. She started to feel numbness in her left leg and she knew it was time to see the doctor again.
None of us were prepared to get the news that our young, strong, active and healthy mom had a tumor in her spine that fractured her L2 vertebrae and that she needed surgery as soon as possible to prevent any permanent damage. She underwent two extremely intense spinal surgeries within a four day span. She was admitted into the hospital for several weeks and forced to take a lot of time off work for rehab and regain her strength.
Then we hit another blow. Not only did our mom have a tumor that fractured her spine, but it was cancer- stage 4 metastatic undifferentiated carcinoma with an unknown primary. So not only a cancer, but an extremely aggressive rare type of cancer. The good news- they believed that had taken most of the cancer out of her spine. Next step: radiation.
With surgeries and radiation behind her, she was able to return to work- which if anyone knows my mom, she was thrilled. She loves her company and the people she works with. They have been extremely supportive through this entire process. She works hard and takes pride in what she does. Her work ethic is incredible- which also makes her the worst patient because we had to have several stern discussions on not pushing it too hard.
Unfortunately, three months later we were hit with more bad news. Our mom’s first scheduled scan did not give us good news. The cancer was back and it came back with a vengeance. The cancer was now in her spine, lungs and lymph nodes of her neck, chest, and abdomen. She went through another surgery to biopsy the lymph node in her chest to see if we would get a better outcome on test results on what we were working with. An unknown primary makes it very hard to treat. Without knowing the primary, they are giving their best educated guess on what chemo would work best. Again, another blow- same as before. Stage 4 metastatic undifferentiated carcinoma with an unknown primary.
Her oncologist decided it was time to pull the trigger on chemo, which meant more time off work for our mom. It was one of the most intense doses of chemo that you could give someone in a short amount of time. She had a treatment every three weeks. We would go in on a Friday, she would get two chemo drugs pumped into her port that lasted majority of the day and then she was sent home with a pump for four days with a third chemo drug. She did three rounds of this and after each round the chemo hit her body harder and harder.
Which leads to where we are today. We most recently got a second opinion in MD Anderson in Houston, TX. They confirmed most of what we already know. The cancer is aggressive, it is rare, and we may never know the primary. Good news, the chemo treatment she was on helped. The bad news, she is not a candidate right now for a clinical trial they want to get her on. The next game plan is to head back to Houston beginning of April, get more scans, meet with clinical trial team, and treat her cancer based on what they see from test results.
As her children, the unknown of what we are dealing with is hard. We cannot imagine how difficult it must be for our mom. But she is amazing. With every bad news, she takes it with a grain of salt and puts her game face on and is ready to take on whatever they throw at her. She wants to live and she wants to fight this. She is the strongest woman and we are so proud to call her our mom. With all she has been through, the least we can do is try to help her financially while she needs to take more time off work. There will also be many trips to Houston for treatments in the near future.
Money and finances are the last thing we want our mom to worry about. We want her focused on getting some of her strength back and fighting to beat this horrible disease. We appreciate all the love and support from family and friends.
Much love to you all,
Ashley and Tim
Our mom started having back pain in February 2018. She was told it was possibly sciatic nerve pain and given some stretches. Fast forward to May 2018. While we were in Washington DC to honor Nick’s name being put on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, the pain in her back became excruciating. She started to feel numbness in her left leg and she knew it was time to see the doctor again.
None of us were prepared to get the news that our young, strong, active and healthy mom had a tumor in her spine that fractured her L2 vertebrae and that she needed surgery as soon as possible to prevent any permanent damage. She underwent two extremely intense spinal surgeries within a four day span. She was admitted into the hospital for several weeks and forced to take a lot of time off work for rehab and regain her strength.
Then we hit another blow. Not only did our mom have a tumor that fractured her spine, but it was cancer- stage 4 metastatic undifferentiated carcinoma with an unknown primary. So not only a cancer, but an extremely aggressive rare type of cancer. The good news- they believed that had taken most of the cancer out of her spine. Next step: radiation.
With surgeries and radiation behind her, she was able to return to work- which if anyone knows my mom, she was thrilled. She loves her company and the people she works with. They have been extremely supportive through this entire process. She works hard and takes pride in what she does. Her work ethic is incredible- which also makes her the worst patient because we had to have several stern discussions on not pushing it too hard.
Unfortunately, three months later we were hit with more bad news. Our mom’s first scheduled scan did not give us good news. The cancer was back and it came back with a vengeance. The cancer was now in her spine, lungs and lymph nodes of her neck, chest, and abdomen. She went through another surgery to biopsy the lymph node in her chest to see if we would get a better outcome on test results on what we were working with. An unknown primary makes it very hard to treat. Without knowing the primary, they are giving their best educated guess on what chemo would work best. Again, another blow- same as before. Stage 4 metastatic undifferentiated carcinoma with an unknown primary.
Her oncologist decided it was time to pull the trigger on chemo, which meant more time off work for our mom. It was one of the most intense doses of chemo that you could give someone in a short amount of time. She had a treatment every three weeks. We would go in on a Friday, she would get two chemo drugs pumped into her port that lasted majority of the day and then she was sent home with a pump for four days with a third chemo drug. She did three rounds of this and after each round the chemo hit her body harder and harder.
Which leads to where we are today. We most recently got a second opinion in MD Anderson in Houston, TX. They confirmed most of what we already know. The cancer is aggressive, it is rare, and we may never know the primary. Good news, the chemo treatment she was on helped. The bad news, she is not a candidate right now for a clinical trial they want to get her on. The next game plan is to head back to Houston beginning of April, get more scans, meet with clinical trial team, and treat her cancer based on what they see from test results.
As her children, the unknown of what we are dealing with is hard. We cannot imagine how difficult it must be for our mom. But she is amazing. With every bad news, she takes it with a grain of salt and puts her game face on and is ready to take on whatever they throw at her. She wants to live and she wants to fight this. She is the strongest woman and we are so proud to call her our mom. With all she has been through, the least we can do is try to help her financially while she needs to take more time off work. There will also be many trips to Houston for treatments in the near future.
Money and finances are the last thing we want our mom to worry about. We want her focused on getting some of her strength back and fighting to beat this horrible disease. We appreciate all the love and support from family and friends.
Much love to you all,
Ashley and Tim
Organizer and beneficiary
Ashley Rodman
Organizer
Louisville, KY
Christina Morrison
Beneficiary