For a recap...my mom was given a 7 month time stamp on her life by the neurosurgeon who performed her brain surgery to remove her tumor. She was even recommended to not pursue any treatment because it wouldn't prolong her life. Our family demanded a second opinion and immediately sought care from Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. We were amazingly referred back to an oncologist right here in Bellingham because they had the best technology in the area to treat brain tumors. Here we were given a sliver of hope that there were options for treatment. My mom was given that tiny bit of hope and ran with it. She immediately started a month of brain radiation where she had to combat her fear of clausterphobia, lost almost half her hair and dealt with radiation burns to her scalp. She then underwent 14 months of chemotherapy and participated in a clinical trial with Avastin IV therapy.
After 5 MRI scans of her brain her oncologist could see no further growth of her tumor and decided it was best to give her body a break from all the chemicals that had been pumped into her body to fight off the cancer. I feel like we held our breath through the next 3 months for her first MRI after stopping treatment and when it came back clear we were so relieved. With each scan since then we feel a little less apprehensive and are even more amazed at the true miracle God has given our family. It may not be a gift of a true CURE but its the gift of TIME. Time for us with our mom and time for her to enjoy life, her kids and now her grandkids as we welcomed my first child into the family on November 17th. From our family to yours Merry Christmas and thank God all of our everyday miracles.
Nana with her grandson Tristan James Ortiz
