Some messages that have been sent out lately.

History- Cindy was diagnosed with breast cancer about 5 years ago. In the last five years she has been through numerous surgeries, chemo, whole brain radiation, and this list goes on. Through all of this, she has kept a positive attitude and held this family together. The most recent development has been heartbraking, and we wanted to share this with her family and friends. I hope this helps.

Here are some early posts that I have sent out to get everyone up to date. Hope this helps you all understand what is going on.

From 7-14-2010
Ok. Again I know this is way impersonal, but it is almost 11 at night and I don't want to wake you guys up, so here it is. Today Cindy was diagnosed with carcinomatous meningitis. If you read the 2nd post on this page, it explains it pretty well. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,285,0.htm
Basically the cancer has spread to her spinal fluid and is effecting her brain and system. The plan now is to treat her with chemo (herceptin) through a port in her head. This is going to happen in the next day or two. The chemo will either work (as in she will be able to eat, talk, go back to the rehab center) or not. We should know within the next week or two if it is working If the chemo doesn't work, the prognosis is 4-6 weeks. If it does work, the prognosis is 3-12 months. Those are the facts.... My thoughts are we will wait and see what the treatment will do. We are all hoping that it will give her somewhat of a normal life so that we get Cindy back for at least a while. Ryan and I will be trying to make trips out to SLU as much as possible to see her and see how she is doing. Jack and Katie have been there on a daily basis. We want her to get back the the rehab center as soon as possible, because the whole family can visit her there. And then maybe home once she gets stronger! Anyway. If you have any questions or anything. Let me know. Again, sorry this is impersonal... but I am thinking of you all and wanted to let you know what was going on.Missy

From 7-15-2010
OK... she is having the port put in her head tomorrow. They will knock her out (for lack of better terms) and get it going. They are hoping to get it in early afternoon. Then they will wait to do the chemo until Monday. They want to wait to do chemo because of risk of hemmoraging (sp?) and infection. Again, once she gets the chemo, she should respond quickly. We went down again this evening and she was in good mental spirits. She is really trying to talk, but it is still hard. Once the chemo does its work, she should regain a lot that is not there right now. They also want to transfer her after the first couple of treatments to St. John's because that is where her oncologist is. So that is it for today. Thanks for listening, this thread of messages kind of helps me organize my thoughts.

Today:
Her surgery for the port is supposed to be anytime now. We are going to drop the kids off at my Dad's and then head down so we can see her afterwards. John and Angie are coming up this evening and will be in town all weekend. Katie said that she was tired this morning, but communicating by this afternoon. I told her that Cindy is just not a morning person:) I will write when I get home to let you know how it went. We are all just waiting to see what the chemo will do. Pray for her. I know we all are!