Is this just a bad dream? It's only a week into my diagnosis and I'm still struggling to believe this is actually happening.
But YOU are here to support me in this journey...and, for that, I am SO thankful. This is the story of how my journey began. And the journal entries that follow will keep you up to date of my progress. CaringBridge is designed to give us ONE place to keep our family and friends updated...thereby limiting the number of times we retell this emotionally draining story. Please feel free to share this site with anyone. The more prayer warriors I have out there, the better!! There is a section here called "WAYS TO HELP" if you are interested in getting actively involved...but please don't feel obligated. Your prayers are my biggest support right now! You are also welcome to leave well wishes for me or my family anytime and you can become a "follower" of this site if you want to be notified when we post updates. (Please note that "tributes" or other donations to CaringBridge do NOT come back to me in any way. Those are simply donations to help maintain this site and keep it free for users.)
So here's how my story began... My primary care doctor sent me to have a routine colonoscopy on Wednesday April 24, 2019 (just one day after my oldest son Braden's 12th birthday). The gastroenterologist was looking to diagnose the source of some minor bleeding that I had been experiencing. She was overwhelmingly confident that it would be something simple...corrected easily with medication or diet changes. At age 40, with no history of problems in my family, surely I had nothing to worry about. But when I woke up after the procedure, it seemed that she was taking an excessively long time to come in and talk to us. When she sat down next to me about 45 minutes later, she had tears in her eyes and said those words that still haunt me and take my breath away.... It is Cancer.
She found a very large tumor low in my colon and said it is the source of the bleeding. It is too large to remove (approx. 10cm), but she did a biopsy for malignancy confirmation. She was confident what the results would be and didn't wait on pathology to get me scheduled with a team of doctors to begin the fight. I was meeting my oncologist 48 hrs later and scheduled for an MRI and CT scans by Monday. Fear and confusion began to weigh heavily for many reasons. First, we didn't know the stage of the cancer I am battling or how far it had spread in my body. From what I had read, stage 4 cancer (that has spread in the body) is not curable. (Treatable...but not curable.) Also, the anxiety that stemmed from sharing the news with family and friends was so painful. And the thoughts of explaining things to my children were heart wrenching.
The day of MRI and CT scans was long and difficult. We left my house at 7am and arrived at the first hospital for blood tests. We then went to another hospital an hour away to have the MRI and CT scans, only to find we had to go to another facility (an additional half hour away) which had the necessary machines. My mom was a real trooper to be with me all day long as we went from place to place while fighting insurance and juggling scheduling conflicts. They managed to get my scans done by 6pm Monday. Needless to say, by the time I arrived home that night I was physically and emotionally exhausted.
My appointment to meet the surgeon was on Tuesday April 30. There at his office, I received a call with the results of my scans. Praise the Lord that the cancer has not spread to the rest of my body! But the tumor itself is large, inoperable right now and affecting several nearby lymph nodes. So we are battling Stage 3 Colon Cancer.
And so the journey begins. Overwhelmed - but I'm leaning heavily on my amazing family...and trusting that God WILL carry me through!
We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
Good Evening, Sorry for the delay but we are finally able to announce the Celebration of Life for Shannon. Please see below for the Save the Date and link to the website that we will be using for the event. Please feel free to share with anyone and everyone that Shannon has touched. We look forward to seeing you on December 11th at Grace Point Church.
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