Update and gofundme

I hope everyone is staying warm in the unusually cold weather. As I write this in the hill country of Texas, we aren't expected to get above freezing, and the lows over the next few days will be in single digits.

Last week we got the chemotherapy regimen explained, and yet more tests. The latest tests were to see if this is a genetic cancer or what they call a sporadic cancer. The latter (and I will stand correction on this) means that' it's just something that happened. The genetic testing will tell us if we need to be on the look out for problems with the kids and her other family members.

Wednesday she had a port put in. This is a small medical device that went into her shoulder. This port provides a way to get chemotherapy drugs into her system quickly and safely. The port has a small catheter than runs into her heart. She says it feels weird. The idea is that as they introduce the chemotherapy drugs into her system her heart will blast them out everywhere a cancer could be.

Her chemotherapy (tentatively) looks like it is going to be starting on Wednesday February 17th. The way that works is that she will go in on Wednesday, receive 4 chemotherapy drugs in sequential order. The last drug needs to be put into the system over 46 hours so a pump will be attached to her port and she will come back on Friday the 19th to have it removed.

After the initial chemotherapy she will go back every 2 weeks. During that downtime from chemo we are going to make some car trips to visit friends, family, and places we were going to visit in our retirement.

Sadly, because we know this is a disease where the treatment is about extending life, not curing it. I'm having to face the reality of preparing for a funeral. The biggest part of that is burial plots. I should have that underway soon. I will purchase 2 plots so that I can eventually be buried next to her.

Which leads to this last I have set up a GoFundMe campaign. I do NOT want anyone to feel obligated. I don't even like to ask, but for her I will. If you can spare some money, I would appreciate it. Don't give if you don't have, or just don't feel it's right. All monies will be used for some short trips in between chemo sessions or for incidental expenses we run into that aren't covered by insurance, and for Teresa's final expenses. Fortunately, I've reached the age I can make a withdrawal from my 401k without extra penalties, which is what I will be doing to cover anything else we need.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I am trying to keep the best information here. I will probably be taking all this and putting it on a blog in the next couple of weeks, but it has been kind of crazy here.

Teresa's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/teresas-cancer-journey