THE CRAZIEST THING HAPPENED THIS MORNING!!!!

The CRAZIEST thing happened this morning!!!

I walked into the gas station that I regularly visit & one of the gals that works there said she saw me on the news the other night. She pulled me to the side to ask me about my journey & what it's all about. Anyway, as we are talking a gentleman, in his 60's I would say, stopped us and said that he overheard us talking and asked if he could tell us something crazy about stomach cancer. He said he didn't know my story, but he wan...ted to share it with me. He said in 1975 he moved from the oil rigs to VALLEY CITY, ND and he was pretty buff and weighed a hefty amount. Shortly after moving there, he started to lose a lot of weight. It seemed like nothing he did would allow him to keep the weight on. He knew losing a little weight was possible as he wasn't doing as hard of work, but that much seemed crazy. This gentleman said he visited his friend who worked at the water plant one day and he was surprised by the ring of orange around the top of the tanks & the large green & blue particles in the tanks. He asked his friend what the particles were and he told him it helped to clean the water. The orange was from the not so clean water mixing with the particles. It got him thinking and he decided to no longer drink Valley City water and switched to Spring Water out of Buffalo, ND. He said he wasn't having stomach problems as much, started gaining his weight back, and just overall feeling better. He never did say if HE had stomach cancer, but he did say to be careful of what water we drink. He, also, said he's talked to several friends/family from Valley and it seems as if stomach problems/stomach cancer seems to be quite frequent that he hears of. He kind of left on that note. I'm not quite sure WHAT to think of that, but thought that was quite interesting! My mom would have been 15 and LIVING in VALLEY CITY at that time....he wouldn't have known that....no way he could have. My grandpa was, also, living in VALLEY CITY at that time.

 So...of course, I've been thinking about this ALL day today. Yes, the kind of cancer I have an 83% chance of getting IS genetic, but usually in most cancers, it takes that "one thing" to turn it on. What if THAT was it??? Now, I'm curious to know if anyone else knows of this kind of thing from that time frame--1975ish-- and other people having issues??? CRAZY!

NO STOMACH FOR CANCER WALK

Yesterday was the No Stomach for Cancer walk.  It was pretty chilly, but the walk went GREAT and was beautiful being down the river.  I am SO thankful for all of those who have donated, walked, been an extra ear to listen when I need to talk, and all who have kept myself & my family in their thoughts and prayers!

Here are a couple pictures from our walk!!

My hubby (Sean), daughter (Paige), & I after the walk.  Paige was beyond tired even though she didn't walk much...it's tough riding in a stroller & being held. haha

Beautiful view along the Missouri River

Great crew on the walk

 

MY MOTHER'S STORY

 

This is my mother, Darla. She found out at the age of 43 that she had stomach cancer, but it was a long road up to that point. My mom was having severe stomach pains & was staring to have terrible acid reflux in May of 2003 (the year I graduated high school). They did an upper endoscopy and found nothing….NOTHING? How could that be? She was feeling so awful!!!

The doctors suggested she try this and try that. They gave her many different diagnosis’ from acid reflux to a paralyzed intestine & stomach. In November of 2003, after projectile vomiting regularly and losing a large amount of weight in such a short time, they decided to do another scope. This time it came back as hereditary diffuse gastric CANCER (nothing anyone wants to hear!). We weren’t completely surprised as my grandfather had passed away from stomach cancer, also. The plan was to open her up and remove the cancer, but they didn’t really know how much would be there. After surgery, they came out and let us know they removed 80% of her stomach.

 She started chemo and radiation shortly thereafter. In February, after treatment, they said it looked like the cancer was clear, but would need to come back in June for a re-check. My mom returned in June to find out the cancer had spread EVERYWHERE. The only thing to keep her alive would be to do the chemo and radiation, but it wouldn’t get rid of the cancer. She agreed to doing that, but in November of 2004 she let my sister and I know that she was sick of feeling like bugs were crawling all over her, sick of throwing up constantly, sick of sleeping if she wasn’t throwing up and all from the treatment. She let us know that she was going to quit treatment and try to live life as normal as possible…it was about quality of life, not quantity at this point and she was one tough cookie all the way until the end.

 December 19th, 2004 my mom took her last breath. We miss her SO much, but are thankful for the time we did get with her and the knowledge we have gained about HDGC and the CDH1 mutation.

NOVEMBER IS STOMACH CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

NOVEMBER is Stomach Cancer Awareness Month and I am proud to support the No Stomach for Cancer non-profit group! I look forward to joining others around the country in our walk this upcoming Saturday in memory of those who have lost their lives to stomach cancer and in honor of those fighting for their lives and/or taking preventative measures to never have them/their family have to fight the great fight against stomach cancer. I hope and pray for a cure for ALL cancer!