The Journey Continues...

At 33 years old, my friend Christie Devitt has found out that the breast cancer she beat over 2 years ago has returned.  Will you read her story, share her message, and pray for her and her family as they begin to fight this battle again?  You can follow her journey and story at  www.CarePages.com - page name "ChristieDevitt". Please share & ask others to pray! We appreciate your prayers, love, & support.

I never imagined that I would be journaling such horrible news… again… but here I sit, with the heaviest of hearts, pleading for your prayers. 

The cancer has come back. After being poked, prodded, scanned, x-rayed, and scanned some more, they have found that the breast cancer has returned in the humerus bone in my right arm. I also have a swollen lymph node near my right clavicle and my surgical oncologist fears this is also cancerous. There is also a shadow on my lungs that we must further look into.I feel we have caught this progression of the disease very quickly. I believe this all started just before Easter, about five weeks ago, when I was experiencing severe shortness of breath. After a chest CT, I was diagnosed with pneumonia. Since then, I’ve been through two rounds of antibiotics, breathing treatments, and an ultrasound, none of which have significantly helped my symptoms of shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, or headaches. Just four short months ago, in January, I had a full body CT that showed absolutely no signs of disease and my tumor marker blood test remained very low. Last week when I saw Dr. Shalaby for my routine appointment, my tumor marker blood test had surged from a 15 in January to a 78 in May, well above the “normal” range of 38 or below. The tumor marker surge paired with my symptoms led to my head to toe scans. The day before I saw Dr. Shalaby I noticed that my right shoulder and clavicle was very sore- that is when I discovered the swollen lymph node near my clavicle. 

It felt surreal to sit in Dr. Shalaby’s office last Thursday afternoon as he explained to Brent and I that the lesion on my right humerus that appeared in the bone scan and x-ray was cancer. Images of my two beautiful children overshadowed everything he was saying. I do not even have the words to tell you how my heart has been shattered. 

My surgical oncologist, Dr. Hyacinthe, has been out of town but we were able to see her today. She feels the lymph node is cancerous and there may possibly be more than one. On Friday, June 3rd, she will remove the lymph node and also put a port back in my left chest, just above the clavicle. I knew I would feel better after seeing her. I explained that I feel that this lymph node is like the root of a horrible, evil vine that is crawling all over my body. It has become extremely painful over the past ten short days- causing my neck to become slightly swollen and pain extends up behind my right ear. It is probably THE WORST feeling I have ever endured… a life-taking disease potentially making its way through my body… this body that has already been through so much to ensure that this horrible disease never returns. Six rounds of chemo, 28 radiation treatments, double mastectomy, reconstruction, more reconstruction, medication induced menopause, shots in my stomach, daily medication, IV treatments for my bones, exercise, prayer. It seems so very unfair. 

I have experienced a wide range of emotions over the past week. Fury, brokenness, sadness, hopefulness, fear. I look at Brent, Conner, and Laney and my heart physically hurts. “Hurts” doesn’t even come close to describing this feeling. I think my heart has been shattered into a thousand pieces. 

Today though, TODAY, I am finally feeling stronger. God and I have been in constant dialogue for days and He knows I’m one MAD momma! I beg Him to please, please not take me from my family. I beg this every moment of every day. I know what this disease has done to my friends. I cannot bear the thought of leaving my babies. God is revealing things to me and is using others to reveal other things to me. Trust me, I DO NOT HAVE THIS FIGURED OUT! All I know to be true is what His Word says. He used our family’s “Healing Journey” to draw others closer to Him, and I have no doubt He will use our family to do more of His work here on Earth. I’m eagerly awaiting Him to reveal a passage of scripture to us that will carry us through this portion of the journey, just as He did before with Matthew 5:14-16. 

Please join us in prayer! You, the Body of Christ, joining together in prayer is a force to be reckoned with!!! Please pass our Care Page information on to other prayer warriors. Our families and friends have already sprung into action… simply amazing… just amazing.
On Friday, I will arrive at Covenant Women’s and Children’s Hospital at 5:30am. As of today, the plan is that Dr. Hyacinthe will remove the swollen lymph node and put a port in to allow easier access for blood draws, IV drugs, and potentially chemo. We have asked that she please send the lymph node for a very quick biopsy to determine if it is cancerous. The tissue will then be sent for further pathology, as we need to know the specific characteristics of the cancer. They have explained to us that regardless of where the cancer has reappeared in my body, we will treat it the same… and a biopsy of any of the potentially cancerous tissues will tell us exactly what characteristics any cancer in my body would have at this point. 

From the bottom of my shattered heart, thank you. Thank you for your faithful prayers. Rest assured, God WILL do something amazing. Just wait and see… this is going to be a journey that will further change each of us.
“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is MAKING NEW LIFE, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” -2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (The Message) 

Your grateful friends,
Brent, Christie, Conner and Laney