Vol family needs your support

#27
#27
brink, I'm really sorry about what you and your family have had to deal with. I just sent a donation and pray that everything starts getting better for everyone soon. God bless you all.
 
#28
#28
OP - I guess women should get the mammograms very early and not wait until 40 ( as 'they' suggest) - I will push my daughter (18) to get one every year since they are pretty much free anymore. Also, I would imagine many churches (mainly Catholic) would love to hear your story of how you guys chose the baby over the Dr advice to abort, maybe they would even help you guys out (and I feel they should) You will be a great dad . Praying things work out for your family
 
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#29
#29
brink637 said:
@VolNExile Thanks buddy. My wife was only 32 when she was diagnosed with serious form or breast cancer. You're 'supposed' to wait until you're 40 to even begin with mammograms. My wife showed her primary car doctor a suspicious lump 3 years ago. He told her it was nothing to worry about. It turned out to be cancer that festered way too long.

If I have one message I want to get out to the VolNation it's this - doctors are mostly smart, brilliant, caring people. But they're not perfect. Take your health in your own hands and follow your heart and your gut. If you're being told "don't worry" and you know you have something really wrong, keep the fight up. Go see different doctors. Find one who will put you on the path to good health. DO NOT accept a pat on the head.
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This x 1000. I went to one doctor when I had a lump and he told me it was nothing to worry about. I left his office and told my wife to find me another doctor. I went to the new doc and he told me I had cancer and scheduled me for surgery 2 days later.

I know what a financial burden cancer is and I'm praying for you guys. I'm 5 years out and we're just now getting back on our feet financially. It's a rocky road but it does smooth out eventually. Be strong my friend.
 
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#30
#30
davethevol said:
brink, I'm really sorry about what you and your family have had to deal with. I just sent a donation and pray that everything starts getting better for everyone soon. God bless you all.
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@davethevol Thank you so much for your kind words and generous support. It means so much to us. God bless you.
 
#31
#31
508mikey said:
OP - I guess women should get the mammograms very early and not wait until 40 ( as 'they' suggest) - I will push my daughter (18) to get one every year since they are pretty much free anymore. Also, I would imagine many churches (mainly Catholic) would love to hear your story of how you guys chose the baby over the Dr advice to abort, maybe they would even help you guys out (and I feel they should) You will be a great dad . Praying things work out for your family
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@508mikey I'm glad you're going to talk to your daughter about this. As I've mentioned, my wife was told by her family doctor that the strange 'bump' was nothing to worry about. He told her that a mammogram was overkill that she was "too young." Doctors are brilliant but they're human and make mistakes. We've learned the hard way that you have to take your health into your own hands and be vigilant when your gut is telling you something is off. Being a father is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. Almost losing my daughter has made me especially protective of her. I've always been into sports and been a "man's man." I honestly never saw this one coming but man it's been a blessing. GBO
 
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#32
#32
kentucky sucks said:
This x 1000. I went to one doctor when I had a lump and he told me it was nothing to worry about. I left his office and told my wife to find me another doctor. I went to the new doc and he told me I had cancer and scheduled me for surgery 2 days later.

I know what a financial burden cancer is and I'm praying for you guys. I'm 5 years out and we're just now getting back on our feet financially. It's a rocky road but it does smooth out eventually. Be strong my friend.
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@kentucky sucks Man, I'm so sorry for you. I know you know what we're going through. I'll pray for your family's continued recovery. GBO.
 
#34
#34
brink637 said:
@kentucky sucks Man, I'm so sorry for you. I know you know what we're going through. I'll pray for your family's continued recovery. GBO.
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As I pray for yours, my friend.

I hope you'll find the good in all of this. It's there. I found it in mine but it was a while down the road. I'm a stronger person now and have a bond with my wife that I wouldn't have had any other way. I pray that you'll have a similar outcome.
 
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#35
#35
kentucky sucks said:
As I pray for yours, my friend.

I hope you'll find the good in all of this. It's there. I found it in mine but it was a while down the road. I'm a stronger person now and have a bond with my wife that I wouldn't have had any other way. I pray that you'll have a similar outcome.
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@kentucky suck Man, I love your attitude. My wife appreciates everything I've done for her and our daughter but it's so tough when you basically take 18 months out of a marriage because of chemotherapy and surgeries. We're getting to know each other again which is a process. I'm just grateful that her and my daughter are alive so we have hope now.
 
#36
#36
Hi Volnation -

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your support so far.

As some of my friends on here know, my family is facing serious adversity and I'm asking for support from anyone who would be generous enough to provide it.

Last year, my wife was diagnosed with a life-threatening form of cancer while she was pregnant with our daughter. Immediately, we began pondering the possibility of a family of 3 becoming a family of 1 - just me. Some of our medical team advised us to abort our daughter due to risk factors, but we just couldn't do that. We had our daughter 5 weeks early and while she had a series of medical issues and an extended stay in NICU, we fully expect her to grow up to be a happy, healthy, normal girl. She is truly a miracle and a blessing. Our case was so rare that our dream team of doctors spanned both U.S. coasts and 3 European countries. The medical community rallied for us and we deeply, deeply appreciate this. But this has all come with a very serious financial burden. I've dedicated every dime from my work to help offset medical bills. I've also liquidated my retirement fund. This is very scary because I'm middle-aged and I know I'll probably never retire now, but I was willing to make this sacrifice for my wife and daughter. It's the vow I took. As bills have continued to stack up, I see that I managed to put a band-aid on a very serious gaping wound. I just don't have enough resources, and I don't think anyone except the very wealthiest could take on this type of financial burden.

I've created a GoFundMe account here where you can read about our story and donate if you choose to: https://www.gofundme.com/cancersurvivors1

If this is a cause that you're able to support, I can't tell you how absolutely grateful my family would be. This has been the most harrowing situation of my life. I've almost lost my wife twice now. My baby has struggled but is going to be ok. I'm trying to get my own health back in order. A year ago, I had perfect blood pressure. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with extreme hypertension that would wind up killing me if I didn't reel it in. I've gone to support groups for family's battling serious cancer and I've learned that hypertension has a lot to do with feeling an enormous amount of responsibility, but really not being able to help the situation. I've felt desperate at times and I've relied heavily on the verse from Psalms 23:4. It's meant a lot to me and I've relied on my faith to get me from day to day as we continue to battle this.

Thanks for reading this and considering us. If you ever need my advice on cancer or just someone to pray for you, don't even hesitate to PM me. I'm here for any Vol fan or for anyone battling this for that matter.

--------------------------------------------------------------


So you can put our faces to this story, here's what our journey of cancer while pregnant looks like. We've been to hell and back, and we're still trying to put the pieces back in place:



A year before diagnosis, going to UT football game: Image

Giving Birth, Lord I was nervous because of the risks but I didn't want to show my wife any signs of it. You can see that she's wearing her wig here: IMAGE

This is what my daughter looked like in NICU. She had severe floppy baby syndrome meaning she wasn't curling up the way babies do, she wasn't drinking fluid, she didn't have normal reflexes like crying or repsponsiveness. The doctors did a panel of tests assuming that she contracted some sort of illness due to the nature of the pregnancy. By the grace of God, they were wrong! She stayed in this 'shocked state' for 3 months but for whatever reason, just sort of rebooted and found her footing in the world. She's developmentally a little bit behind but she's going to be perfectly normal: Image

To get an understanding of what cancer "looks like", compare the 1st photo of my wife and I going to the UT game with this photo of her holding our baby on our porch. This photo breaks my heart because this doesn't look like my wife at all. She's listless and her eyes are grey and hollow. I never remember her cracking a smile during these days. Chemo destroys good cells and bad cells. There's also a problem called "chemo brain" where you literally are not yourself psychologically. I was worried for my wife but I was also worried for my daughter during this because this would normally be the time when mom's/daughter's bond. But it was a really tough time: Image

If any of you have been recently diagnosed with cancer, and need words of encouragement, please PM me. I've learned a lot through this journey and I'll share anything I know if it'll help you.

Thank you for reading - God bless.
 
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#38
#38
Many prayers for you and your family. Similar situation to what my family went through when my dad got horribly sick. May the good lord give you comfort and healing. God bless brother.
 
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