I normally write about all things Societal, Cultural or Political in this space, but today I’m taking a “Point of Personal Privilege”. Today, June 6, 2017, my wonderful wife, Lori, will undergo her 6th and final Chemotherapy infusion treatment for her breast cancer recovery. I believe this calls for two things, 1) a celebration, and 2) the proclamation that even at the bottom of what may seem to be the darkest canyon, God always has the plan!
The last 7+ months has been quite a roller-coaster ride here at the Smith house. On November 8, two significant events occurred, the first and most public one, the Citizens of the United States elected Donald J. Trump to be their 45th President. The second, and most effecting of the lives here at the Smith house, Lori has a biopsy of a growth in her left breast that was confirmed by her 2nd Mammogram. On November 10, two days later, we received the confirmation that the growth was indeed cancerous and treatment decisions had to be made. Our first “God-Wink” happened later that afternoon when Lori received a call from the scheduler for the Breast Surgeon she had hoped to see, in response to an open request for referral. We had our 1st appointment with Dr. Sandra Schultz the next afternoon.
This started the journey that Lori has been on for 7 months. In the meeting with Dr. Schultz the various options for treatment were laid out to us. Lori knew that day that the option that was the best to prevent recurrence, a double mastectomy, was the smartest choice and the course was charted. Over the next week we waited on the final pathology from the biopsy to be reported as well as the results from a genomics test. This was where the first curve was thrown. The genomic test showed no signs for breast cancer, but was a positive marker for colo-rectal cancer. So a colonoscopy was scheduled and performed. Good news, just a couple of benign polyps, no cancer. YEA!! Now back to the main journey. God always has the plan.
On January 11, Lori had her surgery and both Dr. Schultz and Dr Caulfield, the plastic surgeon, reported everything went as expected. The initial reports were that the whole tumor was removed and there was no sign of any spreading in the lymph nodes that were removed. YEA! Also, on the day of January 11, our dear friend Cheryl Graves flew in from Florida to be Lori’s home-care nurse for the first 2 weeks after surgery. Praise the Lord! This act of kindness by a dear friend was a priceless gift. Yes, just confirmation again, God always has the plan.
Then came the next turn in the journey. Up until this point all of the pathology had shown no presence of the HER-2 receptor, the nasty one that can be part of breast cancer. That changed on the final pathology of the tumor and the journey was now going to take us through “Chemoville”. The good news was that 20+ years ago this would have probably been a death sentence, but today this was just a detour on the road to recovery. So off to the Levine Center at the Cleveland County Hospital and the initial meeting with Dr. Thompson, the Oncologist. He laid out the protocol for Lori’s treatment, which would include 6 “hard” Chemo treatments, one every 3 weeks, followed by a regime of 12 “maintenance” treatments, one every three weeks. So, on February 14, the first treatment happened and a whole new world of unknown began. But we knew, God always has the plan.
Now, for the last 15 weeks I have watched my wonderful wife become even more of my hero. I know this has been a very scary trip through the unknown and Lori has been a fearless trooper through it all. And I have come to be so very thankful for all of the wonderful people who have been part of Lori’s trip through “Chemoville”. A special shout-out for another friend from afar, Gail Ptacek. She flew in from California before Lori’s 2nd treatment and spent the next 16 days here with us. Gail’s background in nursing was a Godsend as she was able to better help guide us through the nutrition and hydration needs following chemo that have been a big help through the subsequent treatments. Praise the Lord! Again it’s proven to us that God always has the plan.
This all brings us to today, treatment #6 out of 6. At this point there are so many people who deserve a shout-out that I apologize in advance for any I miss. Lori’s Mom, Donna, has been here to go to every chemo treatment with Lori as well as semi-regular visits in between. And then, ALL of the friends of Lori’s who have been here, whenever she has needed someone, even if it was just to sit with her. Some I knew before and many I didn’t, all of which I will forever be grateful for their being part of Lori’s journey. And there are the hundreds of friends, acquaintances and strangers who have been keeping Lori in their prayers through this whole journey. Yes, God always has the plan.
In closing, I want to now give special recognition to ALL of those in the various medical facilities we have been to, and through, on this journey. From the people at Kings Mountain Hospital, where Lori originally had her Mammograms, to the people at the radiology clinic in Shelby, to the people in Dr. Schultz’s office, to the people in Dr. Caulfield’s office, to the people at CaroMont Hospital in Gastonia, where Lori had her surgery and several other procedures, to the people at our pharmacy at Ingles in Kings Mountain, and last, but certainly not least, all of the wonderful people at the Levine Center in Shelby, we have been met with and exposed to nothing but love and kindness and prayers, on top of unquestionable professionalism and medical expertise. Never doubt, God always has the plan!
God Bless America! And America, Please Bless God Again!!
