FINAL OPERATION TO BE CANCER-FREE!
One week from today, we will leave Fort Worth for what we hope will be our last visit to Houston. I will have the last operation in the series of procedures I have undergone to be cancer-free. That goal has kept me going!
A MONTH OF SILENCE…
It has been one month since I updated this blog because it has been that long since I felt strong enough to do it! The radiologist who performed the procedure said I “might have a few flu-like symptoms” resulting from that part of the liver “getting angry” because the blood supply had been cut off.
PVE HARDER ON ME THAN THE FIRST BIG OPERATION!
The PVE was not a big procedure, but it has been harder for me to recover from it, than it was for me to recover from removing 80% of my liver. Imagine that! Even before we left the hospital, I was having trouble. I had begun to have muscle spasms in my back where the puncture wound was (where they inserted the needle). They gave me Valium to relax those muscles so I could sleep overnight in the hospital.
We spent one night in the hospital, then spent the second night in the hotel, hoping that we could sleep and be more rested for the trip home the next day. I had a really hard time finding a position that was comfortable enough for sleep. We had a mountain of pillows stacked on my side of the bed so I could sit slightly reclined. It was a rough night.
The trip home was rather uncomfortable for the same reasons. It was difficult to find a comfortable position. Upon arrival home, we unpacked the necessities only, showered and tried to get some sleep. I was taking medication for the pain and Valium trying to prevent the muscles spasms in my back. Abraham said I got sick to my stomach. I don’t remember that happening.
FINALLY STARTING TO FEEL BETTER
I have had a few brief energy spurts this week and took care of things that must be addressed promptly. Monday, I reconciled our bank statement. I did our taxes Tuesday and Wednesday during my energy spurts. Today was the first day that I have felt good enough to do much of anything for more than just an hour.
A PLEA FOR ADDITIONAL HELP
I am pleased to tell you that my insurance company has reimbursed us for some of the expenses incurred on the previous trips. We used the reimbursement from the Jan-Feb trip to pay for the PVE trip. But—even with the reimbursements—we still need about $1000 toward the hotel bill, copays, gas and food for the trip next week.
It pains me to have to ask for your help, but we have nowhere else to turn. If you thought about helping us before but, for some reason didn’t, please take a moment to do it now. You can click the “Chip In” link on the right to make a donation using a debit or credit card. Or you can mail your check payable to Mary L. Weeks-Ayala Medical Donations Account to:
Mary L. Weeks-Ayala Medical Donations Account
c/o Frost Bank
5561 Bryant Irvin Road
Fort Worth, TX 76132
There is no way to thank you for helping to save my life. Your help is deeply appreciated!
SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT TRIP…
We will leave Fort Worth Sunday morning (3/23) to give us time to get settled into our room at the Rotary House. Monday (3/24), I have appointments for all the diagnostic tests: blood work, x-rays and another CT scan. Tuesday (3/25), we will see Dr. Abdalla and the anesthesiologist. Wednesday (3/26), is the day of the operation, but I won’t know what time exactly until Tuesday afternoon. I will email everyone to let them know. Now that we know what to expect and have worked out some of the issues with the medications, I expect this hospital stay to be shorter than after the first operation. I hope to be home around April 7 or 8.
Without your prayers and financial assistance, I would not be here. Abraham and I thank you.
Mary and Abraham
Showing posts with label How to Help. Show all posts
Showing posts with label How to Help. Show all posts
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
FIGHTING COLON CANCER: URGENT NEED FOR ADDITIONAL HELP
WE ARE GETTING DOWN TO THE WIRE…
So many of you have made donations…we are so grateful! Those of you who have made donations should have received your e-Thank You notes by now.
Everyone has been incredibly generous, but it’s not nearly enough. We still need a big chunk of money to pay for our lodging (which could be $3200 to $4400 depending on the length of the stay).
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!
We still need your help. If you have thought about making a donation but have not yet done so, we are asking you to please go ahead and do that.
COMPLICATIONS OF TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
If, at any time, the “Chip In” widget does not appear, it is due to trouble on their site (which is beyond my control). Should that occur, please use one of these alternative methods to make your donations.
1. MAKE A DONATION ONLINE THROUGH PAYPAL’S SECURE SERVER:
- Click here to open PayPal.
- Click on the Send Money link at the top of the page.
- Copy this email address: ColonCancerDeathSentenceReversed@yahoo.com
- Paste the above email address into the To field.
- Enter the amount of your donation into the Amount field.
- Click the Service/Other button.
- Click the Continue button.
- In the next window, Review Your Payment to make sure everything is correct.
- If you want to include the optional message, list the subject and enter the message.
- Click the Send Money button to complete the transaction.
2. MAKE A DONATION IN PERSON:
- Make your check payable to the Mary L. Weeks-Ayala Medical Donations Account.
- Deliver in person Tuesday (Monday is MLK Day) to any Frost Bank location in Texas.
- Call or email me to let me know.
3. MAKE A DONATION BY MAIL:
- Make your check payable to the Mary L. Weeks-Ayala Medical Donations Account.
- Mail your check to:
THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING IN MY MIRACLE!
I believe that God has already created a medical miracle for me. I believe that He is still working on a monetary miracle for me. By participating in the monetary miracle, you become part of the medical miracle. Without your help, I cannot finish this race…and this is a race I desperately want to finish! Thanks so much for your help! God bless you!
So many of you have made donations…we are so grateful! Those of you who have made donations should have received your e-Thank You notes by now.
Everyone has been incredibly generous, but it’s not nearly enough. We still need a big chunk of money to pay for our lodging (which could be $3200 to $4400 depending on the length of the stay).
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!
We still need your help. If you have thought about making a donation but have not yet done so, we are asking you to please go ahead and do that.
COMPLICATIONS OF TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
If, at any time, the “Chip In” widget does not appear, it is due to trouble on their site (which is beyond my control). Should that occur, please use one of these alternative methods to make your donations.
1. MAKE A DONATION ONLINE THROUGH PAYPAL’S SECURE SERVER:
- Click here to open PayPal.
- Click on the Send Money link at the top of the page.
- Copy this email address: ColonCancerDeathSentenceReversed@yahoo.com
- Paste the above email address into the To field.
- Enter the amount of your donation into the Amount field.
- Click the Service/Other button.
- Click the Continue button.
- In the next window, Review Your Payment to make sure everything is correct.
- If you want to include the optional message, list the subject and enter the message.
- Click the Send Money button to complete the transaction.
2. MAKE A DONATION IN PERSON:
- Make your check payable to the Mary L. Weeks-Ayala Medical Donations Account.
- Deliver in person Tuesday (Monday is MLK Day) to any Frost Bank location in Texas.
- Call or email me to let me know.
3. MAKE A DONATION BY MAIL:
- Make your check payable to the Mary L. Weeks-Ayala Medical Donations Account.
- Mail your check to:
Frost Bank- Call or email me to let me know.
5561 Bryant Irvin Road
Fort Worth, TX 76132
THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING IN MY MIRACLE!
I believe that God has already created a medical miracle for me. I believe that He is still working on a monetary miracle for me. By participating in the monetary miracle, you become part of the medical miracle. Without your help, I cannot finish this race…and this is a race I desperately want to finish! Thanks so much for your help! God bless you!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
CHANGE OF FOCUS
CHANGE OF FOCUS
Thanks for sending your cell numbers! I am also working on the possibility of emailing from my phone to those whose cell phones don’t text. I know my phone can do it. I just need to figure out how!
Abraham and I have discovered that the internet business is not going to help us like we had hoped. It seems that we would not have immediate access to our part of the money. We need the money in hand (or at least in the Medical Donations Account) next week when we leave town.
For that reason, we are shifting our focus from attempts to earn money to an all-out plea for help. Donations will be the only way to quickly gather the cash we need. Several of you have already made your donations, for which we are very grateful! You should have received your e-Thank You notes.
NEED FOR PRAYER…AND ACTION
We are asking you to pray for the people to whom God has already spoken about giving, that they follow through without hesitation. You can make secure donations through this site (see sidebar) or make donations directly to Frost Bank in person at any location or mail donations payable to:
If you have already made your donation, you already have our thanks! If you have not already made your donation, please take a moment to take care of it. We thank you in advance for helping save my life!
REMEMBER TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG POST
I hope you’ll take advantage of this free service!
Thanks for sending your cell numbers! I am also working on the possibility of emailing from my phone to those whose cell phones don’t text. I know my phone can do it. I just need to figure out how!
Abraham and I have discovered that the internet business is not going to help us like we had hoped. It seems that we would not have immediate access to our part of the money. We need the money in hand (or at least in the Medical Donations Account) next week when we leave town.
For that reason, we are shifting our focus from attempts to earn money to an all-out plea for help. Donations will be the only way to quickly gather the cash we need. Several of you have already made your donations, for which we are very grateful! You should have received your e-Thank You notes.
NEED FOR PRAYER…AND ACTION
We are asking you to pray for the people to whom God has already spoken about giving, that they follow through without hesitation. You can make secure donations through this site (see sidebar) or make donations directly to Frost Bank in person at any location or mail donations payable to:
Mary L. Weeks-Ayala Medical Donations AccountIf you do mail your donation to Frost, please email or call me to let me know. Those donations will be deposited without records of the sources, so unless you give me the heads up, I won’t be able to send you an e-Thank You note.
c/o Frost Bank
5561 Bryant Irvin Road
Fort Worth, TX 76132
If you have already made your donation, you already have our thanks! If you have not already made your donation, please take a moment to take care of it. We thank you in advance for helping save my life!
REMEMBER TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG POST
1. Scroll all the way down to the very bottom of the page where you’ll see “Subscribe to: Posts(Atom).”Quite simple…and quite painless. And you will automatically receive an email containing a link to the new post next time I update the blog.
2. Click “Posts(Atom), which will open a subscription window.
3. Click “Subscribe,” and you are finished!
I hope you’ll take advantage of this free service!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
MY STORY: COLON CANCER DEATH SENTENCE REVERSED!
WHAT A PEACEFUL DREAM...
FIGHTING THROUGH TO MORPHINE HAZE
Finally managing to lift my eyelids, I gaze into the weary eyes of my husband, Abraham, now haggard from lack of sleep. He takes my right hand in his, as he did the day we were married. "Honey," he says sweetly, his brown eyes filling with pools of love and deep concern, "You’re okay. You’re in the hospital. You had to have emergency surgery to remove a blockage from your colon."
"Dr. Dewar performed an exploratory colonoscopy and found a tumor that had completely blocked your colon," he continued. "You needed emergency surgery. He called Dr. Rutledge, who removed the tumor and a section of your colon. He couldn't reconnect your colon right now, so he gave you a colostomy."
TOTAL HELPLESSNESS
The oncologist arrived next. Cold and inattentive, he blurts, "Yes, it’s colon cancer, and it’s spread to your liver. Come to my office, and we’ll start chemo." With a flourish of his white lab coat, he turned on one heel and disappeared. I did not like him. I felt helpless.
Get a second opinion, I reasoned. Surely they can remove lesions from my liver, or even remove part of the liver itself, allowing it to
re-grow cancer-free. The CT machine in Houston, however, produced more hopeless details, multiple lesions. My liver looked like a gumball machine, filled with tumors. The operation was a no-go. I was crushed.
AT LAST, A RAY OF HOPE!
The doctors at The University of Texas M. C. Anderson Cancer Center were the first to offer hope. They instructed me to proceed with chemotherapy with the goal of allowing the chemo to shrink and eliminate as many tumors as possible, then return for re-evaluation. I eventually switched oncologists, so that they could collaborate with a former colleague who had relocated to Fort Worth.
Their 12-month customized treatment plan – although physically grueling and financially draining – has cleared all but three tumors from my liver. I am now a candidate for surgery! Two final operations will remove the diseased tissue and allow my liver
to re-grow cancer-free.
NEED FOR SURGERY
Without these operations, I may live for another couple of years, but the tumors will definitely return. Where they reappear determines how long I will live.
Until now, no one who has had the disease in such advanced stages as I once did has responded to treatment well enough to even be considered for these operations. Most people with advanced Stage IV colon cancer are considered beyond help and usually die within 6-12 months of diagnosis.
ONE FOR THE MEDICAL RECORD BOOKS!
Having already outlived the average Stage IV patient, I will be in the medical record books! What’s more, I have an opportunity to have surgery to be cancer-free! And although Dr. Abdalla can’t guarantee I will remain cancer-free forever, he is confident these operations will tremendously increase my odds--giving me a fighting chance to live a long and healthy life.
I was not ready to die at the time of the initial diagnosis, and I am not ready to die now! Abraham is not ready for me to die, either, and has laid down his career to help me live. Our personal financial resources were exhausted more than 18 months ago. Only through my family’s generosity have we made it this far. Unfortunately, their financial resources are now exhausted, as well.
URGENT NEED FOR ASSISTANCE
I am tentatively scheduled for the first of two operations at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center on January 28.
Here’s how you can help us pay for the operations I need to save my life:
1. Pray. If God chooses to heal me through this rather than deliver me out of it, please pray specifically that Jesus guides Dr. Abdalla's hands during surgery, that the Holy Spirit tangibly fills the operating room and keeps the entire surgical team focused and sharp, that all the equipment functions properly and that I have a painless recovery.
2. Make an individual donation online through PayPal's secure server.
- Copy this email address: ColonCancerDeathSentenceReversed@yahoo.com.
- Click here to open PayPal.
- Click on the Send Money link at the top of the page.
- Paste the above email address into the To field.
- Type your email address into the From field.
- Enter the amount of your donation into the Amount field.
- Click the Service/Other button.
- Click Continue to complete the transaction.3. Make an individual donation in person.
- Call us at 817-569-7621 or click here to email us for more information. Every prayer counts. Every dollar counts. Both are greatly appreciated.
God bless your gracious generosity!
Mary and Abraham
Find me on MySpace and be my friend!
Gentle waves rock me to that place you go just before falling asleep. The sun soothes my skin, as the wind whispers her lullaby of rest. I don’t have to be anywhere anytime soon. Here on my imaginary raft, everything is warm, soft, peaceful, comfortable…perfect.Later, hovering in the place between sleeping and waking, I am aware of a strange sensation near my belly button. Still dazed with anesthesia, I notice discomfort radiating from my abdomen. What is this? Struggling to reach full consciousness, I move both hands toward my abdominal area. It’s lumpy…What is that? I wonder. Except for the pain in my stomach lately, I have always been in good health.
FIGHTING THROUGH TO MORPHINE HAZE
Finally managing to lift my eyelids, I gaze into the weary eyes of my husband, Abraham, now haggard from lack of sleep. He takes my right hand in his, as he did the day we were married. "Honey," he says sweetly, his brown eyes filling with pools of love and deep concern, "You’re okay. You’re in the hospital. You had to have emergency surgery to remove a blockage from your colon."
"Dr. Dewar performed an exploratory colonoscopy and found a tumor that had completely blocked your colon," he continued. "You needed emergency surgery. He called Dr. Rutledge, who removed the tumor and a section of your colon. He couldn't reconnect your colon right now, so he gave you a colostomy."
TOTAL HELPLESSNESS
The oncologist arrived next. Cold and inattentive, he blurts, "Yes, it’s colon cancer, and it’s spread to your liver. Come to my office, and we’ll start chemo." With a flourish of his white lab coat, he turned on one heel and disappeared. I did not like him. I felt helpless.
Get a second opinion, I reasoned. Surely they can remove lesions from my liver, or even remove part of the liver itself, allowing it to
re-grow cancer-free. The CT machine in Houston, however, produced more hopeless details, multiple lesions. My liver looked like a gumball machine, filled with tumors. The operation was a no-go. I was crushed.
AT LAST, A RAY OF HOPE!
The doctors at The University of Texas M. C. Anderson Cancer Center were the first to offer hope. They instructed me to proceed with chemotherapy with the goal of allowing the chemo to shrink and eliminate as many tumors as possible, then return for re-evaluation. I eventually switched oncologists, so that they could collaborate with a former colleague who had relocated to Fort Worth.
Their 12-month customized treatment plan – although physically grueling and financially draining – has cleared all but three tumors from my liver. I am now a candidate for surgery! Two final operations will remove the diseased tissue and allow my liver
to re-grow cancer-free.
NEED FOR SURGERY
Without these operations, I may live for another couple of years, but the tumors will definitely return. Where they reappear determines how long I will live.
Until now, no one who has had the disease in such advanced stages as I once did has responded to treatment well enough to even be considered for these operations. Most people with advanced Stage IV colon cancer are considered beyond help and usually die within 6-12 months of diagnosis.
ONE FOR THE MEDICAL RECORD BOOKS!
Having already outlived the average Stage IV patient, I will be in the medical record books! What’s more, I have an opportunity to have surgery to be cancer-free! And although Dr. Abdalla can’t guarantee I will remain cancer-free forever, he is confident these operations will tremendously increase my odds--giving me a fighting chance to live a long and healthy life.
I was not ready to die at the time of the initial diagnosis, and I am not ready to die now! Abraham is not ready for me to die, either, and has laid down his career to help me live. Our personal financial resources were exhausted more than 18 months ago. Only through my family’s generosity have we made it this far. Unfortunately, their financial resources are now exhausted, as well.
URGENT NEED FOR ASSISTANCE
I am tentatively scheduled for the first of two operations at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center on January 28.
Here’s how you can help us pay for the operations I need to save my life:
1. Pray. If God chooses to heal me through this rather than deliver me out of it, please pray specifically that Jesus guides Dr. Abdalla's hands during surgery, that the Holy Spirit tangibly fills the operating room and keeps the entire surgical team focused and sharp, that all the equipment functions properly and that I have a painless recovery.
2. Make an individual donation online through PayPal's secure server.
- Copy this email address: ColonCancerDeathSentenceReversed@yahoo.com.
- Click here to open PayPal.
- Click on the Send Money link at the top of the page.
- Paste the above email address into the To field.
- Type your email address into the From field.
- Enter the amount of your donation into the Amount field.
- Click the Service/Other button.
- Click Continue to complete the transaction.3. Make an individual donation in person.
- Deliver your check made payable to:4. Make an individual donation by mail.
Mary L. Weeks-Ayala Medical Donations Account
to any Frost Bank location in Texas, the only bank we found to give same day deposit credit.
- Mail your check made payable to:
Mary L. Weeks-Ayala Medical Donations Account
c/o Frost Bank
5561 Bryant Irvin Road
Fort Worth, TX 76132
- Call us at 817-569-7621 or click here to email us for more information. Every prayer counts. Every dollar counts. Both are greatly appreciated.
God bless your gracious generosity!
Mary and Abraham
Find me on MySpace and be my friend!
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