I haven't made this public yet on my website or on the Facebook page, but will be posting here first.
I made mention in the contest thread that things were running behind with what was going on with my husband.
Before the contest launched we knew my husband was going to have surgery to remove an aggressive cancerous tumor from his right ureter. It resulted in the loss of his right kidney as well. This all happened May 26 and in theory, removal of the offending bits would have solved the problem and everything would be hunky dory just minus a kidney and a tumor.
Life had other plans.
Two weeks after the surgery my husband was back in the hospital with a variety of issues which turned out to be "multiple lesions throughout the brain, too many to count." It was also in his lungs and potentially more elsewhere. They biopsied what was in the lungs and it turned out to be melanoma. Further tests later revealed the original tumor that was removed was also melanoma. Tests eventually showed it was a rare mutation not normally found in healthy individuals.
August 8 will mark two months post diagnosis. My husband is 42. I'm turning 36 in a few days. During the last two months they have completed 14 treatments of whole brain radiation, started immunotherapy drugs and are trying to control the cancer as best as possible. Without treatment he had less than two weeks to live. With treatment, less than six months. With the immunotherapy treatments he may have longer, but how much longer is an uncertainty.
To say the last two month have been chaotic would be an understatement. We have all the legal stuff done (will, living will, advanced medical directives, etc.). We are applying for disability, etc. for him while I continue to work full time and freelance.
Needless to say, my websites, including UOHomeDecor, UOForums and others, have understandably been pushed to the side while we deal with the more immediate issues and try to spend more quality time with him in what time he has left.
I just wanted to give an explanation of what's going on since it looks like I'm flaky right now (and I am.)
Thanks.
I made mention in the contest thread that things were running behind with what was going on with my husband.
Before the contest launched we knew my husband was going to have surgery to remove an aggressive cancerous tumor from his right ureter. It resulted in the loss of his right kidney as well. This all happened May 26 and in theory, removal of the offending bits would have solved the problem and everything would be hunky dory just minus a kidney and a tumor.
Life had other plans.
Two weeks after the surgery my husband was back in the hospital with a variety of issues which turned out to be "multiple lesions throughout the brain, too many to count." It was also in his lungs and potentially more elsewhere. They biopsied what was in the lungs and it turned out to be melanoma. Further tests later revealed the original tumor that was removed was also melanoma. Tests eventually showed it was a rare mutation not normally found in healthy individuals.
August 8 will mark two months post diagnosis. My husband is 42. I'm turning 36 in a few days. During the last two months they have completed 14 treatments of whole brain radiation, started immunotherapy drugs and are trying to control the cancer as best as possible. Without treatment he had less than two weeks to live. With treatment, less than six months. With the immunotherapy treatments he may have longer, but how much longer is an uncertainty.
To say the last two month have been chaotic would be an understatement. We have all the legal stuff done (will, living will, advanced medical directives, etc.). We are applying for disability, etc. for him while I continue to work full time and freelance.
Needless to say, my websites, including UOHomeDecor, UOForums and others, have understandably been pushed to the side while we deal with the more immediate issues and try to spend more quality time with him in what time he has left.
I just wanted to give an explanation of what's going on since it looks like I'm flaky right now (and I am.)
Thanks.
~ Assia Penryn
