Brenda’s Story

Site created on July 28, 2020

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.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Todd Bergman

Hello everyone.  One year ago today my families life was turned upside down.  Brenda, my wife,  and our youngest son came home from a 4H trip to Colorado. When Brenda got home she told me something was wrong.  Brenda had started feeling ill while in Colorado.  The next morning we started seeking medical help.  Later that afternoon we were informed that during the tests the doctors were performing, they found a mass on Brenda's Pancreas.  Long story, short . After eight months of chemo and radiation therapy Brenda had a major surgery called the Whipple procedure. The initial month of healing was pretty rough for Brenda and the family. The second month things seemed to be getting a little better.  Than came her 1st cancer marker test post surgery.  Brenda's C19 cancer marker number was elevated.  The doctors had no explanation.  Maybe post surgery stress, fatty tissues or just the healing process was causing this.  The doctors waited several more weeks and tested Brenda's C19 marker again.  The number was even higher.  An MRI PET scan was done.  The scan showed that Brenda now has a mass on her right upper humerus bone. A biopsy unfortunately confirmed that Brenda now has stage 4 metastasized Pancreatic cancer in the bone. More radiation and chemo therapy. This second diagnosis has really hit Brenda very very hard.  Each day has become a struggle with concentration and attempting to gain a sense of normality. All we can do is take life one hour and one day at a time. The hardest pat of Brenda's day is when there is no one at home for her to have someone to talk with when things get hard.  Any messages Brenda receives of encouragement  and support do seem to lift her spirits.  Our family and friends have all been so amazing in providing some meals for us through a Meal Train website a few of Brenda's friends setup.  We never realized how many people and families are effected by cancer until the 1st day we walked in to the Cancer center down in Milwaukee almost one year ago. If you are interested in being part of a lottery drawing for beef or pork, a family friend has setup a GOFUNDME page for Brenda. Both animals being drawn for were raised by our son Jacob through the Fond du Lac County 4H programs.
 
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