Paul here.
You may or may not have heard, but we found out last March
that Nancy has had a recurrence of her cancer.
It is Stage 4 (non-curable) and it came as devastating news and
continues to be. The plan for her
treatment is to provide as high of a quality of life as possible for her for
whatever amount of time she has left. Our family is doing our best to process
what the diagnosis means and how we will move forward.
The first thing that comes to mind for most people is the inevitable
and understandable response of “how long”? The short answer is we don’t
know. The average survival time for
people who are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer is roughly 2 years. Those studies were done years ago, there are
newer treatments and each person has their own story. That is one of the
hardest things to deal with, the simple uncertainty of not knowing how Nancy’s
story will play out. We are focusing on
trying to make the most of the time that we do have together and to make it as
good as possible.
For a variety of reasons, we have not been good about
getting the news out nor about putting out updates. That has created a
situation where many concerned people or people that we care about are either unaware
or wanting to know what is going on. If this
is the first that you have heard of this news, we are sorry that it did not
come out sooner. When the news first
came, it was very difficult to process and felt all encompassing.
I can assure you that we are in good hands and that we are
thoroughly seeking the best treatments and options available. Nobody wants the outcome to be better than we
do. Cancer is very tricky and unique for
each individual, so news of a cure for a specific cancer may not apply. While well intentioned, it is not usually
helpful to be given advice of new cures or treatments. Nancy is currently in a new study very
specific to her and her type of cancer. Thanks for understanding.
Moving forward, I am planning on having regular
updates. I will probably do them by
email and blog. This is an attempt to help
people we care about feel in the know and to get the message out in a more
controlled way. Up until now, we have updated
people as they would ask by text, phone or in person. That requires a lot of constant updating and
is less efficient. By getting our
regular updates, we can help people know what the current status is and will need
fewer touch-points to do it.
While I am thinking about it, we would be very ungrateful to not recognize those who have been so generous and caring to us in this process. We have an amazing family, the world’s best friends and the Church’s best 2 wards. Our community has been better than we could have ever hoped for in every way imaginable. Between the meals, the rides, the walks, the trips to and from the hospital, the fill-ins the visits and everything else, we have been truly blessed. If you are reading this and have in any way helped us out in the last 11 months, we really do recognize the help and support and appreciate it – even if we haven’t always said so. We have been blessed in many other ways that we could not possibly adequately describe here.
We are trying to stay positive, hopeful, and have
faith. It is not always easy, but I do
think that we are trying.
Current Status/history
There is lymphatic spread throughout most of her chest and
reaching up her neck and down towards her abdomen. There is slight involvement in her lungs,
sternum and a rib. Her pericardium has had
a lot of issues and she has had 2 windows placed. That is where they cut holes in the lining of
her heart. Her pericardium filled up 2x with nearly 1 liter of fluid. The fluid and the pericardium tested
positive. She has been on a couple of
different treatments and will likely transition to more. If you are interested in specifics, I can expound
later. There have been 2-3 stays in the
hospital and various surgeries and side effects. She had multiple pulmonary emboli, effusions
(water on her lungs), and massive clots the length of her leg into her abdomen. She has paralysis in a vocal cord. She at one point had completely lost her voice
but has improved a lot.
She has been home for a couple of months now and feeling
relatively well. Her ‘well’ is relative. She is able to get around for the most part,
but at times is fatigued, nauseated or otherwise not feeling well. The illness has had a mental effect as
well.
The next thought usually goes towards our kids. A quick
update on them; Emily is a sophomore at BYU and recently got back from a study
abroad in Jerusalem. Jake is a junior at
Highland High, Sam is in 7th grade and Zach is in 3rd. They are resilient and doing about as well as
could be expected. While I might be biased,
I think our kids are amazing.
As I mentioned, I would like to get updates out more regularly. If you would like to get these updates, either sign
up for the blog or let me know and I can add your email address to an
email group. My email address is plimburg@certapro.com. My phone number is 801-554-0440. Email or text me your preference.
Once again, we thank each and everyone of you for your
caring and for everything that you have done – whether recently with Nancy’s
illness or in the past.
-Paul and Nancy.
