Fighter, mother, cheerleader, sister, Beatles fanatic, grandmother, inspiration, always open arms and a shoulder to cry on, world’s worst bowler, best craft maker, Cancer Warrior, always up for adventure, faith seeker, grandchild snuggler, kindest hearted, selfless giver.... I could go on and on. It’s so hard to sum up such a wonderful woman in mere words.
I wanted to start Debbie’s story by telling who is is before sharing what we are facing . Because she is so much more than the news that I am faced with sharing today. I wanted this beautiful soul displayed for everyone because we all know she one in a million and her diagnosis is nothing compared to who she is!!!!
In the past few weeks Debbie has been having some issues with her vision. At first, we thought it was side effects from her medication that she takes daily in her ongoing battle with cancer, but this week we found out otherwise. Debbie has been diagnosed with a new form of Cancer called Leptomeningeal. Which is cancer in your spinal fluid. These cancer cells in her spinal fluid have traveled to her brain and have lined her optic nerve, causing vision issues.
The prognosis for Leptomeningeal is unfortunately only a survival rate of 3 months. We are all devastated by this heartbreaking news and that our Cancer Warrior has met her match. But Cancer will never win because she is so much more to all of us than this diagnosis. She is all of the words I have described above and so much more. And those qualities are what we will cling to!
Debbie has accepted her final battle and is at peace with the journey that lies ahead. Debbie is a strong woman of faith and although is heartbroken to leave this world and the people she loves she knows the Glory of Heaven is were this journey will end. She feels the love from our God and when her time comes she will be ready to meet and be embraced by his loving arms. She knows she will be reunited with her son Andy and the pain of his loss will finally end as wraps her loving mothering arms around her eldest son! Oh what a joyous day that will be.
Instead of spending these final days in mourning we have decided to spoil her until the very end. Debbie will be getting massages, facials, shopping, beauty treatments, even a little gambling, but most importantly she will be surrounded by her most important people each and every day. Because if you know Debbie, family is the only thing that matters! And her love and love for us will be eternally remembered. Because of Debbie we are a little kinder, a lot stronger, and know that at the end of it all -Love is all we have.
*I will continue to share updates of Debbie’s story with pictures of her with all her important people! Along with any information about her health that we want to keep others in loop about. Debbie may not be up for phone calls and visits but please share any caring words or stories that we can read to smile about as we walk through this journey together.
Sincerely- Debbie’s Warrior’s aka the Stifter family❤️
