Earlier this week, Lynne was heading back to the hospital following further complications in her journey with cancer. She was walking down the stairs from the camper she and David had been living in the past few weeks in Phoenix, where she was seeking non-traditional treatment for her cancer. She paused at the bottom of the steps and took a deep ‘recovery breath’. She started for the car that Brooke had waiting to take her to the hospital, paused and said, “Wait!” as she turned and walked back up the steps. She reached up to the empty hummingbird feeder that was hanging on a branch of the lone tree by their temporary home, took another recovery breath and said, “The birds need food too.”
That is our Lynne. Whether it’s the people in her life or the birds eating at her feeder; ‘others’ always find their way into her care. When she and David arrived in Phoenix, prepared to live out of the camper they towed behind them from their home in Montana, Lynne went out and bought a hummingbird feeder. Their camper is set up among other campers surrounded by concrete slabs and city sounds. The stark difference between their new temporary home and the beautiful home they created in Montana and had to leave, was not lost on her. So she did what Lynne does - has done her whole life, not matter the circumstances - she brings beauty to her. She filled that new hummingbird feeder with sweetness and the birds came.
Following a hysterectomy in November of last year, a large tumor was discovered in her uterus, which initiated chemotherapy at the end of December through April 2018. It appeared the cancer was in remission. However, a follow-up CT scan revealed spots on her lungs. At that point, Immunotherapy was started in July, going into September. The cancer continued to grow at a rapid rate and she was told all conventional forms of treatment were no longer available to her. She plowed through each new step and challenge without a complaint; taking each with strength and grace.
She decided to seek a non-traditional approach to treatment at the Envita Cancer Center in Phoenix where she was to receive Genetically-Targeted Fractionated Chemotherapy [GTFC] which is a new treatment involving low-dose chemotherapy targeted to hit up to 7-10 genetic markers; something that traditional chemotherapy cannot do. Genetic information is collected in real-time through a blood test, not simply from a biopsy; giving Doctors information regarding what each individual patient’s genetics are most likely going to respond to today - not six months previous when the biopsy was originally performed.
Soon after Lynne arrived in Arizona, she was hospitalized with fluid in her lungs, again demonstrating the extremely rapid growth of the tumors, which were now pressing agains her airway. Soon after her short stay at the hospital, she began Tomo Radiation Therapy. However, another complication has Lynne back in the hospital due to declining pulmonary status from tumors and infection. She is currently receiving high levels of oxygen and her goal and hope is to regain strength and lung capacity to initiate the new chemotherapy version and radiation to the tumors in her lungs.
WE WOULD LOVE to hear your Lynne stories and messages that we can share with her as she continues to have hope and fight with the grit and grace she has always lived. We want to remind her how she is, even miles from home, loved and held by each of you. Your love, your prayers, your friendship sustains us these days.
We have linked a GoFundMe site for any of you who would like to help ease some of the financial burden medical expenses bring with this level of care. Most of her expenses will not be covered by her insurance and that is not a burden we want to add to the very real challenges she will face in the coming days. Thank you for your love and friendship.
