Halie’s Story

Site created on September 8, 2017

In August of 2017, I visited my OBGYN because I had a very stubborn "clogged milk duct". I figured it would dissipate once I stopped nursing my twin babies, but it didn't, so I thought it needed to be checked out. My doctor sent me to have my first mammogram just a few days short of the first month into my 40th year. Well, there were quite a few troubling masses and I was immediately scheduled for a quadruple biopsy of both breasts and an enlarged lymph node. I had an excruciatingly long wait over the Labor Day holiday weekend. Five days later, I was told all four areas of biopsy show cancer. Stage 3, triple-positive, was my diagnosis after numerous scans and additional tests. My twin babies, Alton and Annie, were only 10 months old and my “big boy” Miles was just 3.5 years old.

My year-long fight began right away. I started with six rounds of knock-you-out chemo that lasted about 5 months. I then had a bilateral/double mascetomy on Feb 15, 2018. They also removed 16 lymph nodes on the left underarm and three on the right. Once healed, raidation began - 25 treatments in total. My cancer is estrogen positive, so I also elected to have a full hysterectomy. In between, I had tissue expanders filled and un-filled, then surgery to remove them and put in breast implants. I went to physical therapy, and so many appointments. I continued with one chemo drug for a full-year and rang the bell that I was finished and cancer-free September 10th of 2018.

After, I saw my oncologist every three months. I had blood tests which showed my tumor markers to be good/low. I developed lymphedema in my left arm in early 2019 and had a surgery to route my lymph line into my blood stream. It was mostly successful and the arm swelling went down a lot.

The breast implants were not doing well and did not look good so I decided to have a new reconstruction surgery which would remove the implants then new breasts would be made from my own skin and fat. During my pre-operative appointment for this surgery, I had an abdominal and chest CAT Scan, it showed a couple concerning spots on my liver and my lungs. My oncologist ordered an MRI. After those results came back, she was very forthcoming that it was likely cancer had spread/returned. I had a biopsy of the liver which confirmed Stage 4, breast cancer metastasis on December 10, 2019.

I was set to start chemo again on Dec 30, 2019. Then, I found a clinical trial my oncologist said was worth investigating, thanks to www.trialjectory.com. After appointments at three different facilities and a lot of insurance delays, I was accepted into the trial and began chemo along with a trial immunotherapy drug on January 27, 2020.

The next part of the story is unwritten. I hope and pray my tumors respond/reduce with chemo. In a couple months, I’ll have new scans to measure their size. I will be in some form of treatment for the rest of my life, or until a cure for cancer is found.

I’m scheduled to get the opinion of a specialist in young woman and postpartum breast cancer as well as MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. I’ve incorporated some holistic-type practices, moved to a vegan diet, and am open to any and all treatment options.

We appreciate your support, generosity, prayers, and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

Much love
Halie

Newest Update

2023 News and New Year Update

Journal entry by Halie Werge —

I’d like to thank Brooke so much for writing the last update. Having friends, that are more like family/sisters, are truly a blessing. I love her. 

For this next update, I’m more together (mentally) than in November,  so I’ll try to write this. Ha!

A lot of fun/family things have happened since early November. For one, my whole family had a birthday. 

My father-in-law, Rob, Nov 4
My brother, Drew, Nov 7 
The twins, Annie and Alton, Nov 22
My dad, Roger, Nov 26
My husband, Tom, Nov 27
My son, Miles, Dec 12

We had parties galore!

And for travel, we headed to Texas in October for my cousin Jay’s wedding and then, we went to Mexico over Christmas for 6 days! It was a really fun time.

But then, enter the hard times. At the end of Dec/beginning  of Jan, Tom got Covid. He needed to quarantine for 5 days. And then our caretaker Sarah got Covid also. And Rob who is our biggest helper stayed in Mexico for about 5 additional days.

To say I’m worn out is an understatement. 

So, onto medical issues. My latest CT scan showed no growth in any organ. Great news!  

The MRI of my brain, taken Dec 28th showed one spot of growth and a second that was so small it was deemed “questionable.” The larger spot is 4mm and previously had been 2.5 mm.

We are not going to do any additional radiation at this time. I’m going to start back on the chemo I’ve been on for many months. I had taken a small break from it (maybe 3 months) because it makes me pretty sick. But this medication is known to get past the blood/brain barrier and be effective in the brain. We know it has from previous doses, so back to “EnHerTu” as it is called. I’ll have another MRI in under 3 months to determine if it’s done its job.

Also, I’ve been having some severe pain in my back/hips/legs. We started out with cortisone shots in my back. That didn’t help. So I’ve now moved onto a pain pump that was physically placed into my side/stomach area. The first drug they placed in the pump made me really mentally screwed up. This is all new. So my second drug is doing much better mentally but not as great with pain. The pump has only been in a couple of months, so it’s apparently a learning curve for everyone.

The last issue is my right hand. I shut it in a door, then got the same spot hooked on an item in the kitchen, then fell on it! Ahhh…Anyway, it is now a huge issue. It has had a skin graft that didn’t work and now an alligator skin coverage type of graft. It seems to be working and we can seal it up soon. (There is a pic here so if you’re squeamish don’t look, sorry.)

Ok, thanks for reading all my issues and fun-ness. I love you all and thank you for following along…even when I take months long hiatuses.

Halie 
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