First post:
Apr 28, 2019 Latest post:
May 31, 2019
Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
Cindy was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in late 2015. Since being diagnosed, she has touched base with her cancer doctor every couple of months. Over the last several years, her myeloma wasn’t accelerating at a rate where she needed treatment. The doctors refer to this as the smoldering stage. In late spring of 2018, Cindy began to have health problems related to her bladder, so over the next several months she went to doctor after doctor figure out what was wrong with her bladder. In summer of 2018, Cindy’s cancer doctor became worried about her multuple myeloma. Because of the discomfort Cindy was facing with her bladder, it was decided to treat her bladder pain before starting treatment for the multiple myeloma. It wasn’t until September of 2018, we discovered she had bladder cancer. It was caught very early on and had not even reached "stage one bladder cancer" when a treatment plan was formed. Right before Christmas, Cindy underwent surgery and chemo to remove a tumor on her bladder. She recovered over the next month and then underwent surgery and chemo once more to remove the rest of the bladder tumor in January. While recovering from that procedure, Cindy became very ill and wasn't acting like herself. She was admitted into the hospital on March 1, 2019. A bunch of tests were performed and that when we discovered that she had a perforated colon due to complications with the diverticulitis. She was rushed into emergency surgery 3 days later that saved her life. (The diverticulitis was diagnosed around the same time as the multiple myeloma in 2015.) Cindy was in the hospital most of March recovering because of this emergency surgery. She was discharged into a rehab facility towards the end of March where she gained her strength back. Cindy was able to return home for about a 2 week span in late March/early April. Because of her health complications with her bladder cancer and her colon rupturing, Cindy was unable to start chemo for her multiple myeloma sooner. These two set backs accelerated her myeloma quickly. In April, Cindy began chemo to treat the multiple myeloma. She also underwent a heart biopsy in March and the results showed she had amyloid of the heart. The doctors told us her life expectancy was only 5 months on April 18th. At that time Cindy had only had one chemo session. Instead of throwing in the towel, Cindy said she would continue her chemo treatment. So on Monday April 22nd Cindy underwent her 2nd chemo treatment. This time around her chemo weakened her to a point where the doctors believe she may only have a matter of weeks left. At this point, her care and chemo are palliative care, not curative. We are waiting to be cleared to take Cindy home and enjoy our last moments with her.
Please help us spread the word. Don’t hesitate to reach out. You can email me anytime. darcy.christenson19@gmail.com
