Walking Through the Valley....Being Refined By Fire....Week Four

What do you do when your Bilateral Breast Cancer changes to the unexpected? When I was diagnosed with Stage 3 ER+....multiple cancerous tumors in both breast....I was given so much hope that I was going to beat this. Although many lymph nodes were removed from under both arms, only one in the right arm showed to have cancer. 

I immediately began going through intense chemo treatments which caused multiple serious side-effects....including Pneumonitis and that left me with barely being able to breathe. Therefore, I was on oxygen for quite a while. Next, I had a Bilateral Mastectomy. Recovered from that and moved on to Radiation Treatments which brought about their on set of issues with mouth and throat sores, burns and blisters across my chest and up to my neck....on and on. But, the war against this horrific disease continued. 

I then moved on to an oral chemo for six months. And, for six months, my hands and feet burned like the pits of hell and they continued to repeat the burn and peel process for the entire six months. Not only that, but my nerves burned causing severe pain. I was blessed that my neuropathy was not permanent. 

Still, I continued to be told that I was going to beat this disease and that no cancer had got through my lymph nodes. Then, after being told a couple of times that my PET Scans showed "No Evidence of Disease," I asked exactly what that meant. Well, it turned out that a cancer must be at least one centimeter to show up on a scan. Therefore, "No Evidence of Disease," is not synonymous with....you do not have any cancer in your body. 

Recently, I learned there was much more to the story that we were unaware of. I asked for a PET Scan last year; however, my Oncologist said it wasn't necessary because I was not showing or feeling any new symptoms. Now, I know that PET Scan could have changed the course from where I am today. 

The reality is that a cancer cell/or cells did get through my lymph node before it was removed. They were basically dormant until my treatment stopped. I was on a pill, Femara, Letrozole, that was supposed to suppress my hormones/estrogen. I was basically going to be on it for the rest of my life. However, we just recently found out that after I have been taking it daily for around 18 months, it was not working.  

Through going to the ER after a fall down my stairs, we found out that my bones are saturated with cancer. I also have a compressed fracture in my lower spine. My Oncologist, Dr. Bondly, told me that basically anywhere you touch my bones, I have cancer. Now, everything has changed. I no longer have a good "5 year" prognosis, but rather, I have Metastatic Breast Cancer in my bones and am told that statistics show I have approximately 30 months if all goes well. 

I immediately started taking Radiation Treatments for the severe pain from the cancer in my neck and lower spine. They could not do treatments everywhere, but they wanted to at least give me some relief. It did help me to get some pain relief. By the time I completed the Radiation Treatments, I started feeling full and could barely eat anything. Plus, my mouth had ulcers again and everything tasted horrible. Then, I started having these weird hiccups. I had zero idea what these two symptoms were connected to. Soon thereafter, in less than a month, I found out the cancer had also gone to my liver. I did not have a tumor, but rather, had multiple cancerous lesions all over my liver. The nightmare just kept coming!!! 

I am a wounded, broken vessel. However, I remain a Daughter of the Most High King and Holy Father. I plead with Him for strength to endure the path that my direction has been set on. My journey with cancer has taken me through dark, frightening and painful valleys....but, there have been times that I have been lifted to magnificent heights through God's covering and protection over me. There is never a time that I do not feel His love blanketing me with peace, comfort, and hope. Yes, there are times that I certainly do not understand why I keep being drug through one fiery furnace after another....but, I never attribute those times to God. I know He loves me with an everlasting love! Satan and man are in control of this world, therefore, I have times of shouting-out to satan commanding him to get out of my life and to leave me and my family alone. I ask God to not allow satan to destroy me or take my life in the end. It would serve no positive purpose. I am a child of God and I strive to shine His Light in my life. I strive to bring others closer to Him. I strive to demonstrate the love that He so deeply fills my heart with. I strive to be very open and forthright with my cancer testimony so that others will see God's glory in all the good that He has and will continue to pour over me during this time of questions, heartbreak, and struggles. He is my strength, my fortress, and Who I continue to look upward to for guidance in every aspect of my life. Thank you God, Jesus, and Most Holy Spirit for the love, guidance, and healing that I have been given and know that I will continue to receive. Amen!

The reality is that we cannot survive without a liver and there are no liver transplants for cancer patients. Immediately, my treatment protocol changed from 3 shots for the bone cancer to having to go back to extremely strong and toxic chemo again. The first protocol for my Metastatic Breast Cancer in the Bones and Liver is Taxol and Carboplatin Chemotherapies plus a shot for my bones to help gain strength in them. The Carboplatin actually puts Platinum into my body. 

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2

Moving forward.....After my first heavy loaded doses of both chemos, I went down. My liver enzymes went up, my platelets went down. Then my white blood count bottomed out at zero. I was put on a very strong antibiotic for 7 days to help fight off infection. When I went back, my white blood count was up to 500 and my platelets were at 14,000. My white blood count had to be at a minimum of 1,000....the "normal" range is 4,500 to 11,000. My platelets had to be at least 60,000....the "normal" range is 150,000 to 450,000. 

I went back on Friday, May 21st, for my fourth (4th) attempt to get my chemo treatments. I got my bloodwork done and Ashleigh and I waited for around 3 hours before being called by to have a consultation with my Oncologist. We knew by then that there would be no chemo treatments as it was too late in the day to get started. And, we were right. My white blood count had not raised up at all. it was still at 500. Dr. Bondly told me that if they administered chemo to me, I would die. I have recently lost a friend who we have been on basically the same path from the beginning. After she could not take two treatments, she went into liver failure and there was nothing they could do, but call in hospice. We were the same age. It is very dangerous when you have to start skipping chemo treatments. Especially now, I have missed four treatments. 

However, among the negatives God always blesses me with some positives. My platelet count had gone up to 53,000. My calcium count was good which showed I did not have as much calcium leaking from my bones into my body. And, regarding my liver....my ALT went down from 122 to 66. My AST went down from 80 to 43. Praise God! Praise God! That was awesome news! The chemo is still working because I was so heavily dosed my first treatment. Of course, it isn't working as strong as it initially was, but it is still working or my white blood count would be much higher.

So, now it was time for Dr. Bondly to give us her new plan. A treatment protocol that we pray will allow me to not have to miss treatments again for long periods of time. Now, rather than receiving treatments every week, I will go every three weeks. I will remain on strong doses of both my chemos and I will also be taking the shot for my bones on the same day I go for chemo so I don't have to make an extra trip. Dr. Bondly will be adding the Neulasta Onpro. It is used to stimulate the growth of healthy white blood cells in the bone marrow once chemo is given. There is bone pain that lasts for almost the whole time to you go back and repeat the process. Since I already have bone and joint pain from the cancer and will again from the chemo....it is just another side-effect to deal with. However, I was on Neulasta Onpro with my first chemo treatments so I am familiar with it and it did help keep my white blood counts higher. The cost of this approximately 2" by 3" device costs an average of $6,300 to $6,500. However, insurance covers most of the cost. It has an onboard injector....the needle is stuck in your stomach, you wear it for 27 hours. On the 24th hour, the medicine is injected into the body and on the 27th hour, the needle will release itself back into the unit....thereby making it available to be removed. The Neulasta Onpro works for two weeks. That is also why I cannot take my treatments any closer together. 

I am just so happy to know that we have a plan and that prayerfully I will be able to start moving forward with the same initial chemo treatment protocol. It would not be good for me to have to stop this chemo and to have to change to another one. The one I am on is the same protocol given to all cancer patients that have the cancers I do....no matter if you are at a major Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

I was initially supposed to be on this set of chemo treatments for three months; however, now with the change in my plan and the severity of my cancer, it will possibly stretch out to December and there is no actual time now set as to when I might not have to take chemo in order to help control the cancer spread. There are so many horrible side-effects from chemo and damage that it can cause damage to other areas of the body....including your heart, strokes, blood-clots, etc. But those are risks that have to be taken. You only have one option and that is to take one day at a time....and pray and pray and pray.

Dr. Bondly told me that my cancer is aggressive and that I should go ahead and get a Comprehensive Cancer Center set-up that can take over when the Bruno Cancer Center has done all it can do. We had discussed this at our last consultation, but she didn't seem to be as concerned about getting it all approved.....but, this week she is on-board and actually pushing for me to see what needs to be done. Her assistant had called MD Anderson, Duke and Vanderbilt a couple of weeks ago and they all said that my insurance was out-of-network and they did not accept Blue Cross Blue Advantage. As a matter of fact, they don't accept most Blue Cross plans. They do accept Medicare Part A and Part B if it isn't attached to the Blue Advantage. I was completely shocked! It never crossed my mind that I would be refused at these major Cancer Centers.

Well, last week, I spent hours on the phone talking to Blue Cross, MD Anderson, and Vanderbilt. After talking to MD Anderson several times, I finally talked to the Financial Clearance Center at MD Anderson. They told me that they do not have a contract with Blue Cross Blue Advantage; however, they do have a working relationship with Blue Cross Blue Shield. The representative gave me a phone number and department for Dr. Bondly to call to give them the information MD Anderson needs. But I was told that they would accept my insurance. However, I don't know if there will be a huge amount that won't be covered or not. Also, please be aware, if you have Medicare Part A and Part B and Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Advantage....most, if not all, of the major comprehensive hospitals will not accept your insurance. 

Then, I had several long conversations with the Vanderbilt-Ingram Breast Cancer Center. They also consider me out-of-network and do not accept Blue Advantage. They don't even accept Blue Cross Blue Tennessee. There again I was shut-down over and over. Then, I finally talked to a couple of representatives who told me that if Dr. Bondly could talk to Blue Cross and they would agree to cover the out-of-network cost of my going there....they will need a letter stating such and then they will accept my insurance. So tomorrow, I will be in conversation with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and will be explaining my situation one more time. I am praying that I can get them to agree to covering my out-of-network charges. I prefer going to Vanderbilt because it is around 3 hours away, we have family there, and we have relationships with two churches in the Nashville area who are already praying for me. Vanderbilt-Ingram is a teaching hospital which also offers high-tech treatments, integrated medicine/treatments, trials, and much more through their comprehensive programs. 

I believe that God is leading my journey and I completely trust Him to get me through this. There is no cure for my cancer, but I pray that God will allow me to live with Metastatic Breast Cancer and that He will give me many more years to shine His light, serve others, and to love my family.

Please continue to lift me and my precious family in your prayers. My family is putting their lives on hold to make sure that my needs are met. Love to you all!

UPDATE ON LARRY:

Larry's Prostate Cancer has been healed, after his Multiple Bypass Surgery, his heart is doing really well. He still has blocked Carotid Arteries; however, they are being monitored as the percentages are still not high enough yet to require surgery. He still has major vascular issues. If you ask him how he is doing....he is likely to say..."I'm ok, just have a problem with my legs." Well, he lives with severe, critical pain in his legs. He has been dealing with severe pain in his hips and right leg for the past 2+ years since his vascular surgeon in Montgomery stopped the blood flow and stented-off an aneurysm in the right knee area. He was barely able to walk then. But, then he had two failed surgeries on his left left in September, 2020...and from that had to have a Cadaver, Cryovein, put in his left leg from groin to below the calf. His left leg and foot are still swollen like the pictures I showed soon after the surgery. Then, in January, the leg became septic and he came close to dying. His doctors didn't expect him to leave the hospital alive. However, by the grace of God, he did. He can barely walk or stand for any period of time. The doctors have told us that he will probably have to live with this pain and swelling for the rest of his life. On top of that, his vascular surgeon...and yes, all of his doctors are in Birmingham now, except for his primary doctor is still in Luverne, told him that since he virtually has no blood-flow in his right leg, he needs the same surgery in it as was done in his left leg. He is not strong enough to do that at this time and if he did, he probably would be left with zero ability to walk. Therefore, his vascular surgeon has put the surgery off for 6 months to see if he will be able to withstand the surgery at that time. 

If you would like to help in the expenses of my cancer journey, my GOFUNDME is below. 

Also, some have asked for my address:

Patricia Wyrosdick

1010 Gary Alan Trace

Moody, AL 35004

Click Here to Donate to my GoFundMe

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