Wendi Taylor

In 2012, Wendi was diagnosed with DCIS.  Yea for early detection and aggressive treatment.  After a double mastectomy, she was upgraded to Stage I because a small triple negative breast cancer tumor was found.  At that time, two oncologists suggested she have chemotherapy, sort of as “insurance” against it returning, because triple negative can be very aggressive.  She and her family chose aggressive action and Wendi endured 7 rounds of chemotherapy, followed by reconstruction surgeries and attempted to put her life back together and cancer behind them.

In early 2014 she felt a lump in her neck and immediately had it checked out. Her brain screaming NO! as the doctor reviewed the CT scan and confirmed biopsy results, the cancer had come back and had now spread to multiple lymph nodes in her body.   Stage IV Metastatic Triple Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer was now our family’s new world.
 
Research became their new best friend, trying hard to understand what was happening in her body so they read and studied everything they could.  She and Ray began focusing  a lot of their energy on raising money for Metavivor, an organiation that focuses on Mestatsitc Research as well as educating people about Metaststic Disease.

Working with her Oncologist, they came up with the best treatment plan for her and it worked for a long time. Her cancer stabilized and she actually had a few scans where there was no evidence of disease (NED).  We all celebrated, cried, traveled, most of all learned to live in the moment and appreciate and love one another on a deeper level.  But with metastatic cancer it pops back into your life just when you start to think maybe, just maybe the chemo killed it all.

Last month after enjoying a wonderful weekend celebrating the wedding of her best friend’s daughter where she was able to enjoy a beautiful evening with family and friends (even dancing multiple times!!), she returned home with severe fatigue and increasing pain in her chest and body.

A PET Scan revealed the cancer had now spread to her colon, liver, spine, abdominal peritoneal area, multiple tumors in her lungs and lymph nodes in her chest.  The lining of her lung is weak and affected by mets causing it to weaken and fluid to build up.  She has had multiple thoracentesis (a procedure where they insert a long needle into the pleural space and remove the fluid to help her breathe better).  She also began a new intense double chemo cocktail in the hopes to stabilize her lungs, which are considered the most “life threatening”. Her meds keep her comfortable so she is not in overwhelming pain, and most days still feels up to short visits with family and friends.

Our hope is that this chemo combo pushes back the cancer and continues to work for a while, though as chemo goes, the more you're on, the shorter period of time they each typically work.  Our next hopeful step is to try an immunotherapy drug.  This is not FDA approved yet, and may require some fundrasing if the drug company is unable to help with the costs.

As a family we are focusing on time together. Bailey is home for the summer and Brennen has been coming home weekly from his internship in Austin. The kids will start their Senior and Sophomore years in college soon, so we are enjoying this time together watching movies, playing games, visiting with friends and family, and just simply enjoying being together.

Our family decided to start this page now to help keep everyone up to date on our current treatment and progress. While many of you follow Wendi on Facebook, this page will allow Ray, the kids and a few others to post on here on her behalf and will also allow those without Facebook to access information and updates.  We can’t predict what comes next, for now we just focus on today. 
 
We are so blessed to have the love, prayers and support of so many people from across the country.  We feel your love, we feel your prayers, and we feel the overwhelming support!!!! 

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
The Taylors and all who love them