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Posted by GA Cat (Member # 642) on 10-20-2022, 09:43 AM:

Well, I hope you won’t hold it against her that she is a Tennessee girl, and though she is not a big sports fan, she would be a UT fan for the most part. However, we have spent the last several weeks getting our proverbial ducks in a row and learning about the journey we are about to take. My wife has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of bilateral breast cancer. The good news is that it is stage 1 and curable. The bad news is that if it comes back, it will not be so. So we are about to embark on a journey of 4 months of chemo followed by double mastectomy to try to ensure that it is eradicated from here body. Chemo starts tomorrow. For the record, I am 55 and she is 53. We would appreciate your prayers. We are blessed with a good family and a caring and loving church, so our needs are being supplied by God’s grace through these wonderful people, but prayers are appreciated from all.

[ 10-20-2022, 09:56 AM: Message edited by: GA Cat ]

Posted by CatfanRick (Member # 126) on 10-20-2022, 10:43 AM:

Count me in for the prayers GA Cat.

Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 10-20-2022, 11:11 AM:

Your wife, you and your entire family are in my prayers.

My best friends wife is going through treatments for stage three breast cancer now. She had a double mastectomy and is now going through aggressive chemo. It’s a tough thing for a family to go through. I’m glad you have support in these trying times.

[ 10-20-2022, 12:48 PM: Message edited by: handycat ]

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 10-20-2022, 12:09 PM:

GaCat,you and your wife are in my prayers. There is hope. May was a year ago that my wife was diagnosed with stage 4 bilateral breast cancer. By the Grace of God she's cancer free. She went through four months of chemo and then last December she had a complete double mastectomy followed by 18 rounds of Radiation. Two weeks ago she had her complete rebuild with implants and fat that the doctor used from her body. She gets her stitches out today the 20th of October.

I hope my wife's story will give you and your wife hope. I will be praying for the both of you daily. No one goes through this alone.

Posted by m hamilton (Member # 127) on 10-20-2022, 02:31 PM:

Prayers going up!

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 10-20-2022, 07:39 PM:

Chemo has come a really long way. It's amazing what they can do now to fight cancer. My wife had a double mastectomy and has been cancer free for a long time.

Prayers to you and your wife, GA Cat.

Posted by GA Cat (Member # 642) on 10-25-2022, 03:49 PM:

Thank you everyone. Had her first Chemo treatment this past friday. Did very well during and after until yesterday. Yesterday and today have been a little rough. She is weak, tired, and a bit nauseous. Nothing series, just doesn't feel like doing anything at this point.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 10-26-2022, 09:04 PM:

GACAT, you can take it to the bank that your wife is getting a whole of prayers.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 10-27-2022, 07:26 PM:

Missed your earlier post... this board gets swamped by the word games.

You can count on one more prayer warrior lifting up your wife and your family to the Lord.

Posted by Old Norm (Member # 1482) on 10-28-2022, 10:34 PM:

From our house to yours. May the Lord keep his hands on you guys.

Posted by Ol' Blue (Member # 2317) on 10-30-2022, 01:40 PM:

I'll pray for her to come through this. And for you as well. Support can be very difficult in times like these.

Posted by GA Cat (Member # 642) on 03-06-2023, 09:56 AM:

Update: My wife completed chemo about 5 weeks ago and much of the acute side effects are starting to dissipate, although she still tires easily and has some numbness in her hands and feed. She still has no hair, and her finger and toenails are pretty messed up. With all that said, next week, on March 15, she will have a double mastectomy. During surgery, they will remove some lymph nodes and do pathology work to make absolutely sure there is no cancer in the lymph nodes. If that is clear, then surgical recovery will be the only thing remaining. If they find cancer in the lymph nodes, then the future is much more uncertain.

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 03-06-2023, 10:20 AM:

I pray that y'all get good news and that the cancer is completely gone.

Posted by CatfanRick (Member # 126) on 03-06-2023, 11:04 AM:

A very long process with no way to know the outcome until it decides to reveal itself. Keep your faith and cherish every moment, as we should all do. Prayers are continued.

Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 03-06-2023, 11:58 AM:

Continuing prayers.

Posted by GA Cat (Member # 642) on 03-08-2023, 03:18 PM:

So this morning, my 25 year old son-in-law was killed in car accident.

If I were not a man of faith, I am not sure how I would get through all this.

Posted by m hamilton (Member # 127) on 03-08-2023, 04:25 PM:

OH, NO!!!!! Prayers going up for you and your family GA Cat!

Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 03-08-2023, 05:15 PM:

You have had more than your share of trouble of late. My deepest sympathies. I will continue to pray for you and your entire family.

[ 03-08-2023, 05:16 PM: Message edited by: handycat ]

Posted by CatfanRick (Member # 126) on 03-08-2023, 05:36 PM:

Prayers asking for angels all around you and yours.

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 03-08-2023, 10:22 PM:

My deepest sympathies and prayers for you, your wife, and the rest of your family.

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 03-08-2023, 10:46 PM:

Praying for you and your family.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 03-10-2023, 03:54 PM:

Oh my. This is a terrible burden for you to bear. Prayers, of course, are going to be offered for you and your wife and your entire family. If we, us geezers at TCD, can do anything to ease your pain, please let us know.

Two tragedies in one week. Words fail me. May the lord bless you and yours.

Posted by GA Cat (Member # 642) on 03-17-2023, 10:47 PM:

Faith has carried us. My daughter has been amazing. She has mourned her loss but has done so with faith and strength.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 03-21-2023, 03:35 PM:

Ga Cat, good to hear about your daughter, she must be VERY special.

Posted by GA Cat (Member # 642) on 03-31-2023, 09:11 AM:

Two things!! 1) Yesterday morning, we had to go to our local hospital so Mrs. GACat could get a bone density scan. This was to establish a baseline for the future as one of the two types of cancers that Mrs. GACat had was an estrogen positive cancer which means it requires estrogen to grow. Therefore, to prevent recurrence of that cancer, Mrs. GACat will take a hormone blocker for the next five years and that hormone blocker can contribute to loss of bone density. 2) Yesterday, we had our post-surgical follow up with the medical oncologist, and I had been waiting to give an update on yesterday’s oncology appt till we got some more information. We now have that information.

So here it is:

Oncology Appt Update: We could not have gotten a better report. Based on the post-surgical pathology tests on the removed tissue, not only was there no cancer in any tissue or lymph nodes that we were not aware of, there was no cancer at all. In other words, the chemo treatments had eradicated all the cancer that had previously been found.
Last week, we had been thrown a curve ball when the surgeon’s office had insisted that we see a radiation oncologist. Just when we thought we were reaching the light at the end of this long dark tunnel, things got dark again. During the conversation with our medical oncologist, she indicated that she didn’t think that was necessary given how effectively the chemo had eradicated the cancer. She told us she would make some calls to the other doctors to compare notes and make sure nobody was missing anything and someone would call us and let us know if we needed to keep the radiation oncology appt. Well, just a bit ago, our prayers were answered. We got the call that the radiation oncology appt has been cancelled.

Now we can turn our focus from treatment to recovery and monitoring. There is always a chance of recurrence, but given how effective the chemo was on the existing tumors, it is highly unlikely that any individual cancer cells could have escaped to other locations of the body and not been eradicated by the chemo so the prognosis from this point forward is excellent. The next three to five years are important to determine if we can call this a cure. However, our medical oncologist encouraged us to move forward as though Mrs. GACat has been cured.

Of course, our family is still rocked by the loss of our son-in-law at such a young age and our daughter being left without the love of her life, but we are managing. I appreciate everyones thoughts, prayers, consideration, etc.

[ 03-31-2023, 09:12 AM: Message edited by: GA Cat ]

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 03-31-2023, 09:48 AM:

I just saw your post and replies. ga cat u and ur family have our families prayers and just know God will bless you!

Posted by CatfanRick (Member # 126) on 03-31-2023, 01:01 PM:

[Big Grin]

Puts a huge smile on my face.

[Smile]

Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 03-31-2023, 01:47 PM:

Great news!

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 03-31-2023, 09:45 PM:

That is awesome news!!!!

Thanks for the update. Still praying for your family as you grapple with the loss of your son-in-law. But praying great praise for God's work in curing your wife.

Posted by m hamilton (Member # 127) on 04-03-2023, 05:50 AM:

Great news! Prayers for continued recovery!

Posted by GA Cat (Member # 642) on 03-20-2024, 01:31 PM:

Well, I haven't updated this in a while.

In August of last year, about 6 months after the death of my son-in-law and one year after the Ms. GA Cat's initial cancer diagnosis, Ms. GA Cat had a cancer recurrence on the lower left of her chest wall. Since there was no breast tissue left, here staging was changed from stage 1 to stage 4. By the grace of God, it was a local recurrence and there was no lymph node involvement and no cancer was found remote from that location. Since then, she has endured another three months of chemo and is now in a rest period before she takes 33 radiation treatments likely starting in the middle of April and continuing 5 days a week for 6 and half weeks.

All in all, we are doing well and continuing to trust God for the future.

Posted by CatfanRick (Member # 126) on 03-20-2024, 05:23 PM:

Prayers for Mrs. and Mr. GA Cat, and those near to you. Challenges ahead for sure, keep your faith strong, seek His guidance and cherish all.

Faith, hope and love, 1 Corinthians 13:13, is the most powerful medicine of all. They will endure all.

Posted by m hamilton (Member # 127) on 03-21-2024, 05:51 AM:

Prayers still going up for you and Ms. Ga.

Posted by GA Cat (Member # 642) on 04-10-2024, 10:57 AM:

Mrs. GA Cat will start radiation therapy on April 29th.

Posted by CatfanRick (Member # 126) on 04-10-2024, 11:40 AM:

Still on our prayer list. Modern medicine is fantastic but a strong faith and prayer covers all the bases.

Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 04-10-2024, 12:24 PM:

Continued prayers.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 04-11-2024, 10:39 AM:

Ga_Cat, your wife and all those treating her are in my prayers. And you too, of course, her chief support and helper. She will need your strength.

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 04-16-2024, 09:17 PM:

Praying for you and your wife. I know what you are going through.