A Little History

Missy had her third day of Radiation yesterday (her 5th day of chemotherapy), and she seemed to handle it very well. Last week was rough on her, but it seems like she is hitting her stride and truly doing amazing. She worked all day yesterday, and then was able to come to our house for family dinner. My aunt, uncle and cousin came by and she had a nice visit with them before heading home to rest. It was wonderful to see her feeling so much like herself again. Thank goodness for her anti-nausea medications!

I thought I would post on here something I wrote on my blog back in September. It basically just a post informing my readers that she had been diagnosed with Brain Cancer. It seems like a good starting point for bringing everyone up to date on her diagnosis.

***** Originally Posted on Bio Girl on September 16, 2010********

My little sister Missy had been having a terrible headache for weeks. It began on the way down to Florida for our family vacation, and never truly went away. It hit a peak when we were out of state to meet Cici, but she called her primary care physician and he told her to take Excedrin Migraine. We picked some up and she began feeling much much better. The headache was still there, but she was able to function. She was able to enjoy the weekend with her new niece. Everything seemed better.

Over the next few weeks the headache lingered on. She went to the doctor. Several times. They thought it was a sinus problem. They thought it was migraines. They just weren't sure. Finally her PCP sent her to a neurologist. She thought it was a pinched nerve. She thought it was migraines. She said the Excedrin was causing part of the headaches and she needed to go off it. At no point in any of these visits did they actually scan her head.

On Friday, August 27th she was at work (she works at the hospital) and her head was hurting so badly, and she knew when the Excedrin wore off it would be unbearable, so she went down to the ER. The doctor was positive it was a migraine, but said nobody should have a headache for seven straight weeks and not have a CT scan. That is when they found it. A large brain tumor in her frontal lobe. At first he didn't think it could be cancer because it was so large, but once an MRI was preformed he became pretty positive that it WAS cancer. She was sent home Friday afternoon with surgery scheduled for first thing Monday morning.

Monday August 30th my sweet little sister had brain surgery to have her tumor removed. They say the surgery went very well. They got most of the tumor. Most but not all. They said they knew they wouldn't be able to get it all. It was a tumor of the brain, not from someplace else in the body. This means it was impossible to tell for sure where the tumor stopped and the brain started. The tumor was located right against the speech center of her brain, so he wanted to take as much out as possible without jeopardizing her ability to talk. He did an amazing job. That same night she woke up from surgery talking and was her perfect normal self. She felt like crap of course, and had one hell of a headache, but she was still her. Still Missy. Perfectly her sweet self.

She spent the next couple of days in the hospital and came home that Thursday. Amazingly, she went back to work (part time for now) this week. We are still waiting on all the lab results to find out the type and grade of the cancer. The doctor believes it is a non-aggressive, slow growing cancer. The best you can hope for once you find out you have brain cancer. The said as long as it is grade 2 or lower she will most likely only do radiation treatments and not chemo. We will find out all those details soon. The waiting is hard, the not knowing what comes next.

She is so strong. Stronger than I could ever imagine being. She has faced this situation with such grace. I feel the desire to stand between her and this situation. To try to protect her somehow. She is my little sister. My baby sister. It is my job to watch out for her and keep her safe. She does not need this. She doesn't deserve it. But that is not how these things work. You deal with the hand you are dealt, and she is dealing with hers amazingly well.
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I wanted to let everyone know that although I am writing the majority of posts here at Kicking Cancer, all comments are being emailed directly to Missy. So, if you are wanting to send her an encouraging word as she continues to fight, she will see each and every one!

**Thank you all so much for your love and support. We cannot ever express how much you have meant to Missy and our family. Many of you have asked how to make donations to help Missy during her treatments. We have set up an account in her benefit, which is tax deductible, at Fifth Third Bank. Donations will be used to help cover medical expenses and cost of living during her treatment and recovery. They can be dropped off at any 5/3 Bank location, or can be mailed to the address on the left sidebar. Donations can also be made through Paypal by using the donation button, also on the left. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.**