Kathy's Cancer Fund
Donation protected
UPDATE 07/19/15
Hi all! I apologize I'm just now getting around to posting an update. To say these past few months have been a whirlwind would be an understatement!
I'll try to make this as concise as possible.
My mom had been having severe stomach pains off & on for about 8 years but we never thought much of it. The docs said she simply had IBS and gave her a prescription to help anytime she'd eat food. No one ever thought to have her gallbladder checked out so we simply took the doctor's advice and dubbed it IBS over the years.
Then, back in August of last year (2014) we had a garage sale and as we were moving boxes around my mom began stating that her right arm felt like she had pulled something or maybe sprained her arm near her elbow. Fast forward a few months & the pain failed to get better -- only worsened. The pain became so intense she could barely type or write with her right hand (she is right hand dominant so this is extremely important that she not lose mobility). Also back in December of 2014 at my going away party (as I was leaving for Italy), she had eaten dinner and then proceeded to have such intense, severe stomach pains that she was literally almost on the floor of the bathroom, paralyzed by her own pain. We begged and pleaded with her to let us take her to the ER to which she was reluctant to go. She thought the pain would soon pass, which it did, but not as soon as it usually does. Nearly 30 minutes later she returned to the table. This was when we started feeling suspicious that the IBS diagnosis was incorrect & that there was a much more alarming underlying issue.
As March of this year rapidly approached, her arm, like I mentioned before, kept getting worse & worse. No doctor would take her concerns & pain seriously though. This is when my Uncle, her brother, suggested his chiropractor. Still to this day, we firmly believe that had it not been for this chiropractor, my mother would no longer be with us. The chiropractor took X-Rays of her right arm and other extremities and noticed dark grey shadings on her bones (bone lesions a.k.a. tumors). He sent them on to her primary doctor who finally got her in for a biopsy March 26th. Coincidentally enough, she also had found out by this point that her gallbladder was full of "sludge" & that it simply needed to be removed & that her stomach pains were a result of this. They told us not to worry seeing as how many people have this routine surgery performed and that it only lasts an hour or so. They performed this on March 27th. After the biopsy on that Wednesday, it was confirmed my mom had over 30 lesions ranging from her skull down to her thighs; spine, ribs, pelvis, arms, legs, everything basically. They said they couldn't confirm if they were full-blown tumors because they looked different on the biopsy than typical tumors apparently. She had every doctor stumped thus far - they said her scans looked very odd comparitively speaking to anything else they had ever seen -- which left us all only more confused.
I was in Italy at the time, Thursday, March 27th, 9:00 p.m. my time, 2:00 p.m. Kansas time. My dad and I had a system. If he texted before calling that meant it wasn't serious, but if he CALLED right away, no text before, then it was urgent. I had received a text from him saying mom was going into surgery & asked if he could call me later. I said yes of course. He then called around 9:00 to let me know the surgery to remove her gallbladder was going well thus far. I felt relieved. A little later around 10:15 p.m. as I was lying down to go to sleep, I received a phone call, no prior text. My heart sunk. I knew it wasn't good news. I answered the phone only to hear nothing, only sobs and heartbreaking cries. I was sure my mother hadn't made it. Finally my dad spoke & said she had been in there for nearly 3 hours & that when they opened my mom up, they found more cancer than ever expected. Her gallbladder had so much cancer in it it was blocking her small intestine which means whenever she eats, she becomes nauseated because food is trying to exit her stomach down her small intestine only to get blocked by the cancer mass so it sends the food back up to her stomach.
They were unable to remove the gallbladder without killing her so they simply sewed her back up and said "There is nothing we can do for you. You have 6-8 months to live, your cancer is terminal. It is spreading at such a rapid pace we can't stop it. It has spread all over your bones."
Luckily/unluckily it has not spread to her other major organs such as her liver, lungs, heart, etc. This is fortunate because if it had, she would probably not be with us today. Unfortunately, this means she is currently facing what doctor's say is the most painful cancer of them all - bone cancer.
A few days after I returned home, she became hospitalized -- April 9th through April 22nd. April 11th she had her first round of chemo because of her rapid decline, the doctor said she was not supposed to begin chemo until the end of April ( seeing as how she had just had a major surgery March 27th they wanted to give her body a month to heal), however, they felt if they waited any longer to begin chemo, she'd be too weak & wouldn't be able to survive it.
Two days after her first round of chemo, April 13th, the doctors prepared her for surgery to sew her stomach to her large intestine in order to create a "bypass" of the cancerous mass blocking her small intestine.
This surgery has left her with a scar nearly a foot long as well as a permanent feeding tube. She has to be hooked up to it every night for 10 hours because she cannot eat much on her own throughout the day.
There are many other details I could include but this post would far exceed what I've already written here.
My mother began chemo again Mid- May and goes two weeks on, one week off. What this means is she goes on a Thursday for a 5 hour treatment... then 7 days later will return again on a Thursday for a 4 hour treatment... then 7 days later on that 3rd Thursday, she is "off" -- so she has no treatment on that 3rd week. This is one cycle. She has 6 cycles so 18 weeks of chemo, every 3rd week off. Her final round is August 6th and then will be off for 3 months.
She only weighs about 102 pounds right now and due to her intense bone tumors on that right arm, she has fractures all throughout her arm.
To say she has been through a lot would again be another understatement.
My mom & my family have endured so much pain, stress, and heartache in the past 4 months it is truly indescribable. To describe such emotions would not do it justice & I truly hope no family ever has to endure the sadness & anger that comes along with being told your mother, or any family member for that matter, has a terminal illness. It constantly haunts you & is like a dark cloud always hanging over you.
God has carried us this far though and we have no doubt in our minds that he will continue to see us through to the end.
As always, we welcome any & all prayers and positive energy anyone wants to send our way.
Thanks for reading & please share this with others.
A prayer goes a long way.
Thank you all -- with love,
The Hanchett Family
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Hi everyone, thank you for visiting our site!
My name is Tiffany and my sweet mom, Kathy, was unfortunately diagnosed in March of 2015 with stage 4 gallbladder cancer. She really needs her gallbladder removed but due to the amount/size/location of the cancer, the surgeons have said she is inoperable at this point in time. She is currently undergoing radiation and will begin chemotherapy tomorrow. We are praying for a miracle & hoping that the chemotherapy will shrink her cancer enough to the point where she can qualify for surgery to have her gallbladder removed
At this point in time, my mom is unable to return to work and my dad is also having to miss a lot of work due to my mother's numerous appointments which is all the more reason we have decided to ask for help.
ALL proceeds will go directly to my parents to assist with their medical bills.
Even if you are unable to donate, we appreciate ANY prayers or positive thoughts you could send our way please.
My family and I appreciate your prayers and donations more than we will ever be able to adequately put into words. My mom is the light of our lives and we just want to try anything possible to keep her in our lives for as long as we can.
Thank you for your help & generosity.
-Tiffany
Hi all! I apologize I'm just now getting around to posting an update. To say these past few months have been a whirlwind would be an understatement!
I'll try to make this as concise as possible.
My mom had been having severe stomach pains off & on for about 8 years but we never thought much of it. The docs said she simply had IBS and gave her a prescription to help anytime she'd eat food. No one ever thought to have her gallbladder checked out so we simply took the doctor's advice and dubbed it IBS over the years.
Then, back in August of last year (2014) we had a garage sale and as we were moving boxes around my mom began stating that her right arm felt like she had pulled something or maybe sprained her arm near her elbow. Fast forward a few months & the pain failed to get better -- only worsened. The pain became so intense she could barely type or write with her right hand (she is right hand dominant so this is extremely important that she not lose mobility). Also back in December of 2014 at my going away party (as I was leaving for Italy), she had eaten dinner and then proceeded to have such intense, severe stomach pains that she was literally almost on the floor of the bathroom, paralyzed by her own pain. We begged and pleaded with her to let us take her to the ER to which she was reluctant to go. She thought the pain would soon pass, which it did, but not as soon as it usually does. Nearly 30 minutes later she returned to the table. This was when we started feeling suspicious that the IBS diagnosis was incorrect & that there was a much more alarming underlying issue.
As March of this year rapidly approached, her arm, like I mentioned before, kept getting worse & worse. No doctor would take her concerns & pain seriously though. This is when my Uncle, her brother, suggested his chiropractor. Still to this day, we firmly believe that had it not been for this chiropractor, my mother would no longer be with us. The chiropractor took X-Rays of her right arm and other extremities and noticed dark grey shadings on her bones (bone lesions a.k.a. tumors). He sent them on to her primary doctor who finally got her in for a biopsy March 26th. Coincidentally enough, she also had found out by this point that her gallbladder was full of "sludge" & that it simply needed to be removed & that her stomach pains were a result of this. They told us not to worry seeing as how many people have this routine surgery performed and that it only lasts an hour or so. They performed this on March 27th. After the biopsy on that Wednesday, it was confirmed my mom had over 30 lesions ranging from her skull down to her thighs; spine, ribs, pelvis, arms, legs, everything basically. They said they couldn't confirm if they were full-blown tumors because they looked different on the biopsy than typical tumors apparently. She had every doctor stumped thus far - they said her scans looked very odd comparitively speaking to anything else they had ever seen -- which left us all only more confused.
I was in Italy at the time, Thursday, March 27th, 9:00 p.m. my time, 2:00 p.m. Kansas time. My dad and I had a system. If he texted before calling that meant it wasn't serious, but if he CALLED right away, no text before, then it was urgent. I had received a text from him saying mom was going into surgery & asked if he could call me later. I said yes of course. He then called around 9:00 to let me know the surgery to remove her gallbladder was going well thus far. I felt relieved. A little later around 10:15 p.m. as I was lying down to go to sleep, I received a phone call, no prior text. My heart sunk. I knew it wasn't good news. I answered the phone only to hear nothing, only sobs and heartbreaking cries. I was sure my mother hadn't made it. Finally my dad spoke & said she had been in there for nearly 3 hours & that when they opened my mom up, they found more cancer than ever expected. Her gallbladder had so much cancer in it it was blocking her small intestine which means whenever she eats, she becomes nauseated because food is trying to exit her stomach down her small intestine only to get blocked by the cancer mass so it sends the food back up to her stomach.
They were unable to remove the gallbladder without killing her so they simply sewed her back up and said "There is nothing we can do for you. You have 6-8 months to live, your cancer is terminal. It is spreading at such a rapid pace we can't stop it. It has spread all over your bones."
Luckily/unluckily it has not spread to her other major organs such as her liver, lungs, heart, etc. This is fortunate because if it had, she would probably not be with us today. Unfortunately, this means she is currently facing what doctor's say is the most painful cancer of them all - bone cancer.
A few days after I returned home, she became hospitalized -- April 9th through April 22nd. April 11th she had her first round of chemo because of her rapid decline, the doctor said she was not supposed to begin chemo until the end of April ( seeing as how she had just had a major surgery March 27th they wanted to give her body a month to heal), however, they felt if they waited any longer to begin chemo, she'd be too weak & wouldn't be able to survive it.
Two days after her first round of chemo, April 13th, the doctors prepared her for surgery to sew her stomach to her large intestine in order to create a "bypass" of the cancerous mass blocking her small intestine.
This surgery has left her with a scar nearly a foot long as well as a permanent feeding tube. She has to be hooked up to it every night for 10 hours because she cannot eat much on her own throughout the day.
There are many other details I could include but this post would far exceed what I've already written here.
My mother began chemo again Mid- May and goes two weeks on, one week off. What this means is she goes on a Thursday for a 5 hour treatment... then 7 days later will return again on a Thursday for a 4 hour treatment... then 7 days later on that 3rd Thursday, she is "off" -- so she has no treatment on that 3rd week. This is one cycle. She has 6 cycles so 18 weeks of chemo, every 3rd week off. Her final round is August 6th and then will be off for 3 months.
She only weighs about 102 pounds right now and due to her intense bone tumors on that right arm, she has fractures all throughout her arm.
To say she has been through a lot would again be another understatement.
My mom & my family have endured so much pain, stress, and heartache in the past 4 months it is truly indescribable. To describe such emotions would not do it justice & I truly hope no family ever has to endure the sadness & anger that comes along with being told your mother, or any family member for that matter, has a terminal illness. It constantly haunts you & is like a dark cloud always hanging over you.
God has carried us this far though and we have no doubt in our minds that he will continue to see us through to the end.
As always, we welcome any & all prayers and positive energy anyone wants to send our way.
Thanks for reading & please share this with others.
A prayer goes a long way.
Thank you all -- with love,
The Hanchett Family
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone, thank you for visiting our site!
My name is Tiffany and my sweet mom, Kathy, was unfortunately diagnosed in March of 2015 with stage 4 gallbladder cancer. She really needs her gallbladder removed but due to the amount/size/location of the cancer, the surgeons have said she is inoperable at this point in time. She is currently undergoing radiation and will begin chemotherapy tomorrow. We are praying for a miracle & hoping that the chemotherapy will shrink her cancer enough to the point where she can qualify for surgery to have her gallbladder removed
At this point in time, my mom is unable to return to work and my dad is also having to miss a lot of work due to my mother's numerous appointments which is all the more reason we have decided to ask for help.
ALL proceeds will go directly to my parents to assist with their medical bills.
Even if you are unable to donate, we appreciate ANY prayers or positive thoughts you could send our way please.
My family and I appreciate your prayers and donations more than we will ever be able to adequately put into words. My mom is the light of our lives and we just want to try anything possible to keep her in our lives for as long as we can.
Thank you for your help & generosity.
-Tiffany
Organizer
Tiffany Hanchett
Organizer
Salina, KS