Elizabeth’s Story

Site created on August 1, 2018

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated on Elizabeth's battle with cancer.  We deeply appreciate the many emails, texts and letters you have sent.  We are getting them even though we may not always respond!  Above all, we deeply desire your prayers as we worship a Prayer-Listening God!  


Want to Help?  If you are interested in helping with visits or food or service, please send your thoughts to one of Elizabeth's close friends, Kennie Protasewich, who is serving as our point person.  You can contact her at kmprot@gmail.com.  She is helping us navigate and coordinate things as the nuts and bolts of managing the cancer fight keep us busy.

A quick overview:. Elizabeth has stage 2 triple negative breast cancer. Stage 2 meaning the tumor has not spread to nodes but is confined. That's the good news. That tougher news is the tumor is fast growing and is resistant to the excellent hormone therapies medicine has developed - hence, triple negative to hormones. Triple negative treatment tends to be more vigilant as the cancer recurrence rate is higher than hormone receptive cancers.


Elizabeth's prognosis is very positive. She is in for a fight though with 5 months of chemo to shrink the tumor, surgery to remove the residual tumor and nodes, followed by a few months of radio therapy.


Gospel hope reminds us God has already been good to us. He is sovereign and loving. He is with her as the Great Physician. Pray for healing. Pray for endurance. Pray for a witness of the hope that is within us as followers of Jesus Christ.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Dean Faulkner

So this will be the last entry for Elizabeth barring any surprises.  After 8 months of breast cancer treatments, she is reentering regular life.  Her plans are to get back into teaching (if you desire, pray for that!).  She will also continue her art instruction and art commissions on the side.  

Elizabeth's future looks good in terms of numbers - even with the dreaded triple negative diagnosis.  We are on a good trajectory with no cancer found after surgery and post radiation. 

We all now begin the wait.  There is a 5 year window we will have to endure with vigilance from the doctors.  That's the time cancer has its highest probability of returning.  So, for those who pray, ask our Lord for grace to that end.  No recurrence.  

Thanks again to all of you for the countless notes, texts and inquiries toward Elizabeth.  Thanks also to those who served us with food, help around the house and, particularly, the visits.  In a season when we needed love, all of you stepped up.  Thanks go to Kennie Protasewich especially.  She has loved elizabeth really well with faithful service and gospel words of encouragement.  We love you Kennie!

Finally, pray for a redemptive purpose for all this.  Indeed, just a few weeks ago, our next door neighbor let Elizabeth know she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was starting chemo.  It's a new opportunity to love the way we have been loved by Christ and by you...

More hope,
Dean
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