Hello friends. Yes, it has been four months since I last posted. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my post in early September explaining what has been going on in my life and the life of my family. You can find that post here if you would like. In that post I mentioned hoping to get back to my blog and Instagram posting as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the circumstances of the explanation I gave in September for my absence have kept me from getting back to engaging on social media.
Last June my beautiful daughter, Brittany, was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. I barely have been able to say those words and this is the first time I have put those words into print. Brittany is 38 years old. She and her husband have 7- and 1-year old boys. She got the devastating news on the birthday of her one-year-old son.
It is inadequate to say that her world and the world of our family was shattered. We are all heartbroken and completely crushed. Immediately she entered her treatment, and her friends and family joined the battle with her. Care of her children was paramount considering it was the summer school break and the ages of her sons. Their care was the practical focus of Tom and me, along with her husband and many other helpers. Of course, caring for Brittany both physically, emotionally and practically became an all-out effort for all of us who love her so very deeply.
The summer was very, very hard with watching our daughter go through the physical pain and discomfort of her cancer treatment, carrying her through the sad days of losing her beautiful long hair and trying to lift her up when she would go to a dark place inside herself. It has been horrible.
But, and this is a big but, God is good and along with all those terrible, terrible things came an outpouring of support like I have never experienced in my whole life. Word went out of Brittany’s diagnosis and immediately there were legions of people praying for her all across the country. Her friend Ashley set up all sorts of services for Brittany and her family, practical ones like laundry and housecleaning, yard work and delivered meals. Ashley even set up a Go Fund Me page for Brittany. All of which, none of us in the family had the energy or brainpower to do. Those of us in her immediate family set out to make her home as comfortable and functional as we possibly could to make it an oasis for her to come home to after her treatments.
All of this is to say, almost four months later, Brittany and we are still in the very serious and gut-wrenching time of traveling with her on this long and hard cancer journey, but we have been sustained by a loving God and magnificent people whom He has brought to walk beside her and to lift her up. I would be remiss to not mention her doctors and nurses who have also been wonderful and supportive also.
Now for the good news. Just this past Monday we received the news we were hoping for. Brittany had her long-awaited PET scan on October 3rd. She had to wait all weekend for the results, the longest weekend of her life, I am sure. On Monday around 1:45 pm she was told by her normally stoic doctor who became very positive in that moment that there was “significant improvement” shown in her scan. All indicators showed at least 50% improvement with some even being close to 75% improvement. Joy rang out to everyone who was waiting to hear. We could finally take a second breath and move forward with hope. The journey continues, of course, but this good news will help Brittany and all who love her to move forward with her. We see the treatments are having a positive effect and that will carry Brittany and us through to the next scan.
Thank you for listening. Again I hope to be able to find the time to start blogging again. We will see how it goes but, I have realized that I still do love the little things in life, the beauty I see in it. I would like to continue in sharing some of those things with you. Let us hope it works out ❤️.
