Welcome to our CaringBridge website. On behalf of us four kids, Don, Jim, Rhonda and Michelle, we are using this site to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
On Tuesday, June 28, our mom was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). While it has been a long and stressful journey getting here, we are thankful that mom finally has a diagnosis so her treatment plan can begin. The news has been very difficult to hear and presents many upcoming challenges, but our mother is staying strong and keeping a very positive outlook throughout the process.
For her treatment, she started an 8 day chemotherapy regimen yesterday at 5:30 pm and she is taking it like a champ; as we expected :) She is on a very aggressive treatment plan as she has a tumor in her hip the size of a softball. We call him PITA....Pain in the A##! The goal of the chemo is that PITA learns his lesson and leaves town as quick as possible before he decides to take up permanent residence (Mom's words). He is causing her right leg to swell up 2x the size of her other leg and restricting her ability to walk or sit for an extended period of time. Prayers for a successful chemotherapy phase.
After this current 8 day regimen, the process will be to do a bone marrow biopsy, ~14 days following yesterday, to assess if she is in remission or not. If so, that's great news that her body is responding as expected and next steps will be addressed. If not, she may need another round of chemo to try to get her AML into remission to allow for the next step.
Betty is in great hands at the University of Kansas Medical Center where she is getting the best care and treatment. The nurses, doctors and nutritionists have cared for mom as we would have hoped. They make us laugh and tell mom straight up what she is dealing with and what she should expect her next few weeks. As of now, it is expected that mom is in the hospital for a minimum of 30 days to monitor her throughout this initial phase.
We are so thankful for our family that have been here supporting mom and all of the prayers we have been receiving thus far. For those of you that know Betty, she is one strong and stubborn person and that may be exactly what she needs to be right now!
She amazes us every day with her smile and humor in such a difficult time. But she knows that God's Got This!
We will try to keep the posts updated every couple of days as Betty's journey continues. Thank you all for your love, support and prayers!
CaringBridge is a nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey. Learn more about CaringBridge.
