Donation Fund

Good friends of ours started a donation fund for my mom.

We have friends and family all over the country and

it is so wonderful to see how much you all love her.

We have been asked often what others can do to help,

this is just another way.

I want you to know that any way you feel is best to help,
is welcomed and appreciated.

Just know this is an option.

If you are interested you can go to any Key Bank and

ask to donate to The Dawna Golden Donation Fund.

Thank you for continuing to send love and support our way.

It has been a little over a month since we found out about the cancer,

but it still feels like yesterday to us.

Round Two

We are at SCCA as mom gets her second dose of chemotherapy.
She is doing great! And she got one of her favorites...grape juice.
We were able to be moved to a bigger room with a bed. She also got to meet with a nutritionist, which was helpful.
Its a good girls day too!

Feeling Grateful

I'm sorry for leaving all of you hanging. I'm doing fine. It was a little bit of a rough week but feeling close to normal now.
I continue to be overwhelmed by the thoughtful acts of service performed by friends and family and even strangers. I definately do not feel like I'm in this alone. Thank you to everyone who has brought in a meal, come to clean my house, dropped off surprise goodies, sent notes of love and encouragement, and continues to pray for me and my family. I feel so loved.

"Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted - a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul."
- Rabbi Harold Kushner"

Valentines

Thank you for the thoughtful Valentine gifts Mom received today. It is her second day of chemo and she is feeling a lot worse than yesterday. They were much appreciated pick me ups! She spent most of the day in bed. We are so grateful for wonderful friends who have been so supportive and loving through all this.
Happy Valentines Day!

ER

On Friday night we went to the emergency room again. Mom hadn't been feeling good. She had a headache and fever. She also felt nauseous. We were worried her port had gotten infected since it had gotten a little wet earlier. Her blood pressure was the highest its been. 181/101. The doctor we called said to get her blood drawn to see if it was an infection so we decided to go yo the emergency room in Monroe. After a really long wait they were able to help her. Things went back to normal and there was thankfully no infection.

Mom starts chemo today 8am! Glad to get it started...we will soon see how she reacts to it.

Special thanks to the girls who came over yesterday to bring her a chemo basket! So sweet and thoughtful.

Port

Mom went in on Thursday morning to have her port surgically inserted. She was hungry afterwards and when she came home she went right to sleep. I can't believe she has a port in her. She says she feels like a Cyborg!

Prognosis

Monday we went in to our first oncology visit.

Almost to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

Beautiful view from the waiting room

The first thing we were told is that they cannot "cure" stage 4 colon cancer, but they can extend my life expectancy with chemotherapy. They said that on average with treatment I could expect to live two years. Of course we have read about those who have survived this and I believe that if it's the Lord's will, I can too.


I go in on Thursday to have a "port" put in which provides a simple and relatively painless (I hope) method to administer chemotherapy drugs.


Monday I begin chemotherapy. I will be there a large part of the day to get chemo and then go home with a pump that will continue to give me chemo over the next couple of days. Then a nurse will come "unhook" me, take her pump and I will continue this process every other Monday for a couple of months. Then I will have a CT scan to see how I am responding.
The good news is the doctor doesn't think I will lose my hair! I guess I didn't need to get this haircut afterall but it sure is a LOT easier to do! Of course I wonder how sure he can be that I won't lose hair so I'm prepared for either way.

This whole thing has happened so fast. I can not believe I am sitting here talking about the things I'm talking about. But there is one thing I want all of you to know...I trust my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. If I have to go through this, there is a  reason. And I know I am being watched over and blessed as well as my family. I am so grateful to all of you for your outpouring of love and concern for me and my family.

Girls Day

The day before we found out Mom has cancer, she got her hair done.

After thinking about it, and the effects of chemo, she thought

it would be nice to enjoy a short cut for a while!

Ken, her hairdresser and a family friend,
was nice enough to re-cut it for her.

We made it a girls day. I was really glad she was feeling up for it.

Mom tends to feel better in the morning and

get more tired or sick as the day goes on.
She has good days and bad days so we're lucky it was a good day.

First, we went to Kohls to buy her some cute comfy clothes,
which we totally scored!

Then we headed over to the salon.

Before...

After...

The nerves are kicking in...

Looking cuter!!

After the wonderful haircut...Thanks Ken!!...
We headed to subway for lunch.

 It was so beautiful outside and nice and warm too!
This was our view.

It was such a great day. I will never forget it.

__________________________________________

That night, after getting used to the short cut,

we thought it could be even shorter. gasp!

Ken was kind enough to squeeze her in this morning.

And Voila! Cute as can be. I think it looks SO good on her.

"Heart Attack!"

While Mom was getting her colonoscopy,

some amazing friends stopped by to "heart attack" the house.

This is what my Mom came home to.....

It was the coolest thing walking in and having so many notes of love and support throughout the house.

(I beat Mom home and I couldn't wait for her to see everything!!)

They even brought dinner, fruit, cookies, salad, juice,

more dinners (for other nights), flowers, chocolates, balloons, and more!

It was so thoughtful and sweet.
And thanks to the other wonderful surprises from other days!

Colonoscopy

January 31st

Dad brought Mom to the scheduled colonoscopy.

They were done much sooner than expected because they

immediately found what they were looking for.

A 5-inch malignant tumor

35 cm from the start, partially obstructing.

This tumor is the primary cancer site so it is Colon Cancer.
It has caused the pain she had been feeling the last year

and the harsh prepping for the colonoscopy.

She was scheduled for surgery consultation on friday

to talk about removing the tumor.

Today doctors called in the morning saying

they did not want to wait until friday.

Mom and Dad immediately went in to consult with the surgeon
who did not think surgery was necessary but highly recommended
starting chemo ASAP to shrink the tumor.

We also found out today that she has Stage 4 Colon Cancer.

After considering and praying about our options,

we decided to cancel the oncologist
appointment that was scheduled for today.

We chose the

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

and our appointment with the oncologist is scheduled for Monday February 6th.

As soon as we spoke with someone from the SCCA

we felt we were in good hands and felt very good about going there.

Even though it puts off the oncology visit by a few days,

we still feel it was the right decision.