Bradley Chamberlain My journey with cancer

First post: Nov 28, 2017 Latest post: Nov 29, 2017
So...here's the first part of the story.  Cancer is scary.  It's hard to describe and harder to wrap your brain around.  I lived in Dallas, TX for nearly 19 years and found an opportunity with my wonderful husband Eddie to move to Iowa, which we completed in July of this year.   For two years I had been having issues, but my doctors dismissed it as something else.  After my dad's recent diagnosis of prostate cancer, my incredible PCP recommended that I get a colonoscopy.  Unfortunately, the results were not what I anticipated and thus began my journey with cancer.   I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer after I moved from Texas, which means my family in Iowa has been able to see me, which has been so helpful! 

 I had surgery on Nov 1st, which was only supposed to be a biopsy! so imagine my surprise when I woke up and was told that it was a surgical removal!  I will begin radiation and chemotherapy in a few weeks in December.  While I started my new job in April in Iowa working in the social work field, because it's only been 7 months there,  that makes me not eligible for FMLA, so the unpaid leave time has started to build up and is about 2.5 weeks so far.    The copay's have been manageable so far, but I'm worried about meeting my out of pocket for the year, only to have to start over in January while still going through treatment.  The funds would help cover the copay and out of pocked expenses, along with the time off that I"ve taken from work.  From what I understand, the side effects only get worse starting in your 3rd week of chemo/radiation.  While that does seem scary, it's even scarier to go without a paycheck.  That's all I can think about now but thank you for reading.

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.

To interact with Bradley’s website, sign in or register today.

By registering with CaringBridge, you will join over 300,000 people a day who are supporting friends and family members.

Sign In Or Register
SVG_Icons_Back_To_Top
Top