THANKS TO EVERYONE (Dan H.)

DanHolohan

It's a love story. This is from our fellow Wallie, Jim Walls. I had written to ask him how his wife, Kim, is doing. She has been fighting breast cancer for a while now. Here's Jim's letter to me:

If I recall, when we last spoke, Kim was nearing the end of treatments and all was looking well. However, as it turned out this was not the case.

We finished chemo on Tuesday 1/18/05 & radiation began on Monday 2/14/05, on Wednesday 2/16/05 she began having back pain. Everyone thought she had just pulled a muscle or strained her back, as up until then she was working everyday and it was pretty much business as usual.

Well the pain, continued to get worse and was in different areas of her back. We kept enquiring and proceeding as directed, a bone scan was done & we were told it was clear, no sign of cancer. X-rays were taken, nothing. Then an MRI was done on her spine,,,,,,,, it had signs that the cancer had metastasized in her bones. This was then confirmed through a pet scan, Dan,,,, she had 1 day, the MRI results came back 1 day after her last radiation treatment !

Her Doctor's were stunned, obviously we were devastated. We had followed all the proper steps, had the best medical team you can get, used all the front line& most current treatments & it had no effect on her cancer!

One explanation is that the cancer may have already been in the bone at the time they discovered the cancer in her breast.

It was back to the Medical Oncologist, she was placed on Tamoxifen (a pill used as a type of chemo that works well with tumors that have hormone receptors as her cancer does) and Zometa, a bone building drug.

She continued to have pain and spent the majority of April in bed, with me working from the house. We were in correspondence with the Doctor continually and it was thought that it was just going to take a few treatments for the drugs to catch up and begin easing her pain. On May
> 6th we went to Columbus for her 2nd Zometa treatment,,,,,,,,,, we ended up receiving it in the Hospital,,,,,,,,,, she was admitted in an attempt
to get her pain under control and to do undergo test as her Oncologist was concerned that the lesions on her spine may be compressing her spinal column. We were admitted on Friday the 6th, she had 3 MRIs, a CT scan, and at least 2 sets of x-rays, her pain was becomming unbearable.

They increased her medication, at one point she was so medicated that she was only breathing 6 times a minute (normal is 11-16 times a minute), and she was placed on a heart monitor.

It was discovered on Monday the 9th that she had a small fracture in one vertebra in her neck & also one in the middle of her back. Also the tumor in her neck area was growing dangerously close to her spinal column. She was placed in a cervical collar and surgery was discussed.
The tumor was also surrounding arteries and it was decided to begin radiation immediately, instead of surgery. She started radiation on the 10th and it was extremely painful even with all of the medication to transfer her to the table.

Also on the 10th, it was discovered that the cancer was now located in her left femur, Dan, she had had a pet scan 2-3 weeks previously and it was not there! The Orthopedic Surgeon was now involved, he discussed 2 options, one was to put in a pin and some screws, (the most likely since it was such a recent find) 2 was to do a partial hip replacement if
the cancer had eaten through the bone. An MRI confirmed the cancer was more involved and a hip replacement was the best option (replacing the ball, but not the socket).

They scheduled her immediately, an attempt was made to get her in the schedule on Wednesday the 11th, however they had to many others already on the schedule so it ended up being performed on Thursday the 12th.

As incredible as this may seem, and just as the Surgeon had informed us, she had less pain on Friday the 13th, then she had had in weeks and stood on the leg that afternoon !!!!!! She began taking steps with a walker on the 14th.

We were released on the 27th and returned this week for her last 2 radiation treatments, and a consultation with her Medical Oncologist for the next step (probably another form of chemo).

She is doing great,,,,,,,,,,,,her mental outlook has been
incredible,,,,,,,,,she turned the tables on me & has been my strength through all of this ! She handled all of the news with the same calm and class,,,,,,,,,,,"we are going to have to replace your hip, or you will never walk again" ,,,,,,,"okay, whatever it takes to get me better",,,,,,,,,,Dan, I cannot tell you how proud I am of her or how in awe of her indomitable spirit,,,,,,,,I spent every minute with her, sleeping in a fold out chair or on a cot,,,,,,,,and they were exhausting me,,,,,,,,the constant tests, pills, scans & x-rays,blood draws at 4 am,,,,,,,,,her veins were shot, her left arm was bruised terribly,,,,back of her left hand was all purple, she had IV's put in 2-3-4 times before one took,,,,,,,,,never complained,,,,,,blood draws took 2-5 sticks,,,,,not a word,,,,,,

There is only one explanation for this,,,,,,,,,,,all the prayers that have been lifted in her name,,,,,,,she has been surrounded with tremendous support from family and many friends, such as you. The prayers worked, I read a little of "When Bad Things Happen To Good People" by Harold S. Kushner and believe that the miracle she is receiving is not that the prayers can make her cancer disapear, what God is doing is providing her & I with the ability to handle this terrible situation & he is guiding the work of those amazing medical teams we have been so fortunate to have.

She has told me several times she feels surrounded by angels on earth & feels their presence and power. The radiation technians & assistants, would hold her hands and stroke her forehead as she lay in pain on the table. Some day I will expound on some of these people.

All of those who were treating her at the beginning are just amazed at her progress. Less then 2 weeks ago it took 5 people (3 men and 2 women) to transfer her onto the radiation table) today,,,,,myself & the technician merely guided her feet and neck as she swung herself around and into position.

Sorry for being so long,,,,,,,,,,,,feel free to share this at the auction,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I had been gathering some of my old books and was going to call you, and ask if I could donate them, then this happened and I ended up in Columbus for 3 weeks,,,,,,,,,,,, If you would like,,,,,,,I will box them up and send them next day air tomorrow,just give me an address,,,,,they are not anything real special,,,,,,,,,,,,but if it will bring in some money for the cause ,,,,, just say the word

The place where she was being treated The James Cancer Hospital & Solove Research Institute at Ohio State University has plans in the works to double their size,,,,,,,,, $ 400,000,000.00 addition,,,,,,,, I wish to
> support that effort and I'm asking my employer and the university if I would be able to do payroll deductions every week as we have direct deposit,,,,,,,

My thoughts for all the wetheads in attendance,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Cancer has no prejudice,,,,,,,,it does not know race,sex age or social standing,,,,,,,,,,it is the one thing that we all need to fight together,,,,

Kim did all the right things,,,,,,good diet, regular checkups, exercise, and still at age 48 she is fighting for her life,,,,,,,

We have been blessed with incredible care & treatment, I cannot say enough about all of those wonderful people at "The James",,,,,,but even with all of their experience and the latest frontline equipment and drugs, we are still in a fight,,,,,,,ask the wallies to dig just a little deeper,,,,this fight is far from over and the research and
support could save the life of the guy sitting next to you
today,,,,,,,,

With all that she has been through,,,,,,,,,,,,,,all she tells me,,,,,,,,,,,,is how very blessed she feels,,,,,,,,,,to have all of the support,prayers and ability to receive the care she has gotten,,,,,,,,,,,,,I feel so humbled

Jim

DanHolohan

Thanks for the great weekend,

and for coming to the last of the Wetstocks. I think it was the best ever and it was so good to see so many friends. Marianne and I just got home and we'll be making the $4,200 donation to The Susan G. Korman Breast Cancer Foundation. Our daughter, Kelly, and her friends will be doing the 60-mile walk this September. If you'd like to learn more about this, please click here:

We'll split the money between the team members and help them all reach their goal.

Thanks, especially, to our good friends at Uponor Wirsbo for including us all in their Customer Appreciation Days. We certainly appreciate you right back.

A fine time was had by all. Onward!

DanHolohan

Thanks for the great weekend,

and for coming to the last of the Wetstocks. I think it was the best ever and it was so good to see so many friends. Marianne and I just got home and we'll be making the $4,200.00 donation to The Susan G. Korman Breast Cancer Foundation. That's how much the Wetstockians raised on Saturday. I wish you all could have seen the cycle/radiator that Hot Rod built. Joe W. had the high bid of $1,000 for that beauty in the silent auction.

Tom Simensen won $860.00 in the raffle and then asked me if he could buy the Welcome to Wetstock sign for that amount. It went right back into the kitty. Tom then had everyone who was there sign the WtoW sign. People get no better than these folks.

Thanks to all the others who contributed to the silent auction. Your generosity is inspirational. Thanks.

Our daughter, Kelly, and her friends will be doing the 60-mile walk this September. If you'd like to learn more about this, please click here: Amy's Army

We'll split the donations between all the team members of Amy's Army and help each of them reach their goal.

Thanks, especially, to our good friends at Uponor Wirsbo for including us all in their Customer Appreciation Days. We certainly appreciate you right back.

We made a memory, and now we move on.

Stay tuned.

Unknown

Sorry I couldn't make it

It looks like a good time was had by all. It seems that summer is the best time to do radiant heating. Too much work & too little time to do the fun things.

Curious, no more Gathering of the WetHeads? Something new/better in the works for the Holohanians?

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