Catching you up to speed on my healing journey in the new year.
Hi Everyone,
Happy New Year.
It’s been a while since I last updated the blog (since July 5th!) It wasn’t my intention to go so long without posting an update. In the time since I last posted, I completed radiation and began new healing protocols. Eventually I will share about radiation, and the healing journey I’ve been on since then, but today I want to bring everyone up to date.
My expectations to update the blog consistently haven’t happened for several reasons. First and foremost, I’ve had a complete lifestyle change. It has taken time to implement all the new healing practices, eat a vegan (mostly plant based) diet, and take the many supplements prescribed to me for deficiencies and blocking cancer pathways (54 pills per day, last time I checked). It’s time consuming, but so encouraging and hope-filled at the same time.
This week we head to Atrium Health’s Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, NC. We leave tomorrow and will be meeting with a new specialist. My new care has transitioned from local care at Longstreet Clinic to combined care between Emory (Atlanta) and Levine Cancer Institute (Charlotte). I can still do my labs at Longstreet, but my future scans will be at Emory and my care will be directed by the specialist at Levine.
Immediately after radiation I completed whole body scans and blood work on July 6th (which was my daughter’s 6th birthday). My scans looked good at the time, but my blood work showed thyroglobulin levels higher than we would hope to see. We adjusted my thyroid medication at the time and scheduled blood work in another month. Long story made short, my levels remained suspicious for either residual or new growth with consecutive monthly checks.
In November, I missed a scan right before the Thanksgiving holiday. I thought the appointment was on Wednesday, but it was on Monday, and I was confused about the date. I continue to have so many appointments, this was the first time I lost track. I was pretty upset when I missed it because I knew it would delay our knowledge of any new findings. This set us back two weeks before I could reschedule lymph node mapping/imaging. In the meantime, we traveled to Florida with my family for the Thanksgiving holiday. Just before we left, I developed an infection and became extremely uncomfortable. I noticed some pain and a lump that had me concerned.
On November 30th, I completed lymph node mapping and pretty much knew immediately that I had more cancer. The imaging technician was focused on certain areas and as she made her report, I could tell I had pain in the areas of her concentration. I came home to Michael and made him feel the masses in my clavicle area on either side of my chest.
The radiologist confirmed these suspicions and on December 6th I visited general surgery for a fine needle aspiration biopsy. A few days later, on December 9th, it was determined that I have two cancerous tumors in my clavicle, one on either side of my chest. The largest one (which is the one they biopsied) is a little over 1cm. The tumor on my right side is under 1cm, and I also have a few other microsites of ‘subcentimeter’ cancer around the same area.
It was at this time that my care at Longstreet made the decision to refer me to an endocrine cancer specialist, which we agreed to and are grateful for. Because of the holidays, the soonest available intake appointment wasn’t until this week. Right now, we are pursuing further testing, completing updated scans, and determining a new plan of care. My cancer continues to be unique and metastatic for papillary thyroid carcinoma. We have several questions for the specialist. Please join us in prayer as we seek answers and wisdom during this visit. Please pray for safety and comfort as we travel to Charlotte.
Each time I do a whole-body scan, I must switch my diet to the LID (low iodine diet) for a few weeks. This time, I will have thyrogen injections leading up to the scan. The injections take my TSH levels well above 30, which is essentially a dangerous level of hypothyroidism. I also take a radioactive tracer that makes me radioactive for a time period… usually for 2-3 days.
Other prayer requests would include for infection to leave my body and my thyroid medication dosage to keep my TSH lowered (suppressed), therefore keeping me from living in a constant state of hypothyroidism. I sleep a lot! I’ve struggled to have energy and fatigue easily for the past several weeks.
On October 31st, I had a neuro CT scan that revealed a subtle short segment prominence of my basilar artery. These are all things we continue to fact find and consider while working towards restoring my health. Please pray for healthy cells, a strengthened immune system, and minimal side effects to the new medications, which I will begin within the next two weeks.
Truth be told, I have a lot more to say about the past several months, but this is the vague, high-level update I was able to write in under 30 minutes, for now.
To everyone who continues to follow this journey and reach out, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are grateful for the community who has walked closely with us. Thank you to everyone who intercedes for our family in prayer and shows up in the most touching, tangible ways. I spend most days resting, researching, trying new anticancer recipes, and being present with my husband and kids. That’s about all I can fit in these days!
Currently, I’m volunteering for a Young Adults with Cancer Study at Northeast Georgia Medical Center. I was asked to participate in a study that gathers information about the types of services and resources needed by young people with cancer. The purpose of the research is to discover how well a hospital-based referral system can assess and match adolescents and young adults with cancer to the type of resources they need. Please pray for the study happening over the next 4-6 weeks as I work closely with an Oncology Navigator and provide input. I pray our efforts will benefit others and future experiences.
We are regularly asked how we can be helped. I’m getting better at reaching out for help and responding with all the ways! This journey has been incredibly humbling, especially as of recently. Once we know more about a treatment timeline, I plan to reach out and be transparent about our needs. I continue to be blessed through part time work servicing real estate needs and selling dōTERRA—thank you to each of you who have allowed me to help you! My essential oils business, Dearly Loved Oils (Colossians 3:12), is a passion that keeps me joyful and inspired because it allows me to share all I’ve learned about preventative health and healing from cancer. It also keeps my mind off cancer and gives me purpose in this difficult season. When you support my oils business, you’re essentially funding my holistic cancer care with my Naturopath. These therapies are integrative and essential to my conventional care plan. I’m so grateful!
We still have our GoFundMe and Amazon wish list set up as well. My Amazon wish list has healing items on it that we aim to purchase as we can. Links are below.
We love our family and friends so much. Thank you!
Under the mercy,
