Please Pray For MK (e-mail from Shelly 10/13/2008)

Hello everyone. MK had to go to the doctor today for another round of injections and when she got there, it was discovered that she has acquired another infection. She was prescribed 2 different antibiotics and she has to go back on Wednesday for a check-up. If the infection hasn’t improved by then, it is likely that she’ll have to have another surgery to clean out the infection. She will probably email you guys with more/better details, but she asked that I send a quick email to everyone to ask you to please start praying for her. I was with her on Friday and someone that she hadn’t seen in a few weeks told her that she has the sparkle back in her eyes. He was right, and I sure don’t want her to have to lose that sparkle again, so please, please say a prayer for her. Thank you so much!!Shelly (MK’s friend)

MK Update 9/24/2008 "I Need Your Support"

Hello Dear Friends! I hope this e-mail finds you all doing well. I am doing great. Your prayers continue to sustain me--still INFECTION FREE!! I have had two saline injections since my surgery. Dr. Bauer said he thought I would need 6 to 8 total to expand my tissues to the "desired size". My FINAL surgery is scheduled for December 11th. At that time, Dr. Bauer will remove my port (I can't wait) and will replace these tissue expanders with the actual breast implants. I had a check up with my oncologist Monday. That went well too. I will have all of my scans repeated in January to make sure the cancer has not returned. Everything is going really well! I just can't thank each of you enough for carrying me through the past 8 months! It has been some kind of ride--that is for sure! Below you will find a forwarded e-mail from one of my very best friends, Shelly Jarvis. Apparently, the past several weeks she has been secretly working to put together a Race For The Cure team in my name. She (and the team) have raised almost $1600 to date and are currently in second place in our division! Long story short, it was supposed to be a surprise for me--I was not supposed to find out about this until the race day. But, as we all know--God had a different plan! He revealed this little surprise to me in the sweetest way today via my younger brother, Jay. So, I asked Shelly if it would be okay to pass along this information to all of you. I have spent the past 8 months trying to run away from breast cancer. I told Chris last week that I didn't want to go to the race because I just want to put this behind me and pretend it never happened. His response was, "Don't you want to be an inspiration to others?" And my response was, "I just want to forget about this and never be reminded of it again." Well, once again God has revealed to me that running away is no way to handle any situation. I know that I should embrace this experience and use my experience to help others. I can think of no better way to do that than to humbly ask each of you to make a donation to this team that Shelly has worked so hard to build. Your dollar may be the dollar that finds a cure to this horrible disease. I will proudly attend this race, and every other race as long as I live because I am a survivor and my hope is that some day that race will be a celebration of a cure for breast cancer! I continue to be amazed at the avenues God uses to help me continue on this journey. Thank you for listening to Him as He has used each of you to guide me along this journey. As for the race and the team, anyone can make a donation and if any of you are interested in joining the team you can e-mail Shelly at shelly.jarvis@ascentchs.com or shellyandjamie.jarvis@yahoo.com for more information. You can also do that using the links below. The race is Saturday, October 11th in Little Rock. I would love to see all of you there. The women can actually participate in the race and the men can cheer us on! I have made it through the past 8 months because of each of you. I love each of you and am so thankful to have such an awesome Army of Angels on my side! I love you more than you will ever know! I thank God for each of you daily! I continue to need your support and prayers! Thank you for loving me! Thank you for loving my family! Thank you for loving God and listening to him lead you my way! You are all awesome! Much love!!! MK


If you are unable to view the message below, please go to http://race.komenarkansas.org/site/MessageViewer/.

Dear Friends and Family,
I recently accepted the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Arkansas Race for the Cure on October 11, 2008 in the fight against breast cancer.

It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make a tax deductible donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. Save a Life! Help me raise $150 to pay for a mammogram.

Click here to visit my personal page.

If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://race.komenarkansas.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1320021&pg=personal&fr_id=1030&et=AHCFj31NSsLkXq4mT-20yQ..&s_tafId=3782

Click here to view the team page for 80278 Run for MK

If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://race.komenarkansas.org/site/TR/Race/General?team_id=12090&pg=team&fr_id=1030&et=l1wT0K8CQYK7Grq53iEjmw..&s_tafId=3782

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Arkansas Affiliate904 Autumn Road Ste. 500 Little Rock, AR 72211
Arkansas Affiliate Home Page Unsubscribe

MK Update 9/4/2008

Hello Army of Angels!! Just wanted to check in and let you all know that my surgery went well. I feel great--just pretty sore. No signs of infection thus far--knock on wood! I go back Monday morning for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Bauer. He thinks he will be able to take out the drain tubes at that time. That would be awesome!! I continue to appreciate your prayer support! Please continue to pray for no infections!!!! You guys rock!! Much love and God bless! MK

MK Update 9/1/2008

Hello all!! I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that I am doing great!!! I am finally feeling like my old self again. My energy level seems to be back to normal and I haven't felt sick in about three weeks. I think the chemo has finally left my system!! I still have no hair and I am starting to wonder if it is going to grow back!! Tomorrow morning, I have my first surgery to start the reconstruction process. It is an outpatient procedure. I have to be there (Baptist) at 6:00 and the surgery is scheduled to start around 7:30. I am considered to be "high risk" for infection since I had the infection from the lumpectomy. So, I have to stay in the house and away from people for 2 to 4 weeks. I ask that each of you pray specifically for NO INFECTIONS!!!! I am not worried about the surgery, but I am a little concerned with infection. If all goes well and I have no infections, this reconstruction process should only take around 2 to 4 months and should involve only two surgeries--the one tomorrow and the final one in 2 to 4 months. However, if I have problems with infections this process will take much longer and will involve more than 2 surgeries. I will keep you posted on this process. Thanks again for carrying me through this journey! You are all wonderful and I love you dearly!! God bless! MK

MK Update 8/3/2008

FINISHED WITH CHEMO & CANCER FREE!!!!!! I have tried to send this e-mail three times this morning and for some reason when I finish the first sentence I was accidentally sending the message. I just wanted all of you to get the point that I am finished with chemo and have no evidence of cancer anywhere in my body! It was been a very long four weeks! That last chemo treatment just about took me down! I went for my repeat scans (a PET scan, CT scan of my brain, and MUGA scan of my heart) on Thursday, July 24th. That was such a long day and I started feeling very ill while I was there. Turns out my red blood cells were very low and Dr. Harrington wanted to do a blood transfusion. I was not comfortable with that at all--so she agreed to allow me to wait and just monitor the blood counts to see if they would come up on their own. I went back to see her on Monday, July 28th to get the results of my scans. They came back with no evidence of cancer anywhere in my body and my red blood cell count was up. It was still below normal, but not so low that I needed a transfusion. Again--your prayers at work! It was certainly a strange day. Although it was great news to hear I was cancer free, I still just felt so weak and sick that it was hard for me to enjoy the news. That same day I had an appointment with Dr. Hagans (my surgeon). He gave me the best advice ever--it just took a week for me to process what he said. He told me that I had taken the most aggressive approach to treating this cancer. If you remember, he had advised me to only do the lumpectomy along with radiation and chemotherapy and to not do the double mastectomy. But, you know me--it's either all or nothing. So, after much research and much prayer I decided to go with the double mastectomy and the most aggressive chemo so that I could get my percentage of recurrence to the lowest possible number. So, he told me that there was nothing more I could do to prevent the cancer from returning, that I should be confident in my decision knowing that I had done everything possible to give myself the best chance, and that I needed to hand everything over to God and let him take care of me from this point forward. Have I mentioned that he is awesome?!?!?

Our trip back to Batesville that day was difficult. I still was very ill--nausea is a terrible thing. When we pulled into our driveway it looked like Pepto-Bismol had exploded all over our house and yard! There were pink streamers everywhere! There was a beautiful sign hanging over our mailbox that read "It's cool to be cancer free". A gigantic sign hanging over our garage door that was painted in pink and said "We love you MK". It was so beautiful and so awesome! Some of the girls from Chris's basketball team (last year's team) came over as soon as they heard our good news and decorated the house and yard for me to see when I got home. Needless to say, I cried and cried! It was so awesome. Those girls mean the world to me! How awesome that a group of teenage girls would rush around to complete something so awesome in less than 2 hours in 100+ degree heat! But, I still was not feeling well and trying to enjoy all of this was very difficult.

I started feeling better Thursday evening and Friday was a pretty good day. I have had a good weekend so far--it is just that my energy level is still low and that is frustrating. But, the fact that I am cancer free and finished with chemo has finally sunk into my brain! And let me tell you, I feel like I am walking around with about a million pounds removed from my shoulders! It's so nice to tell others that I am finished with chemo and am cancer free! I remember there was a time when I thought that day would never arrive! This has been a long and exhausting 8 months not just for me but for my family. I have an appointment on the 15th with the plastic surgeon to get the ball rolling on the reconstruction process. I will have at least two surgeries left to complete that process. And, Dr. Hagans gets to remove my port during my first surgery! That too is so awesome. I know when I can finish the reconstruction, get this port out, and get my hair back everything will really be better. I know it sounds crazy, but I have a constant visual reminders of this cancer and I know when those are gone it will help me to put this behind me!

I can't even begin to express in words to each of you how much you all have meant to me and my family the past 8 months. I know I still have some difficult days ahead, but I am fairly confident that the worst is behind me now! Your prayers and support really have carried me through this experience. My spiritual growth has been enormous and continues to need to improve. I humbly ask that each of you continue to pray for me as I finish this chapter in my life; specifically, that I will continue to grow as a faithful Christian knowing that God really is in control and will take care of me. I love you all and will always be grateful for my Army of Angels that have carried me through this process! You really have been "the light of my world". I continue to pray for each of you daily and love you more than you will ever know! God is good--all of the time! Love to you all! MK

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 NIV

Five down--ONE TO GO!!! My last treatment is scheduled for tomorrow. I feel pretty confident that my blood counts will be good enough to have the treatment--I certainly hope so anyway. These last two treatments have been pretty hard to get through, especially this last treatment. I was able to go to church with Dad (and the rest of the family) on Father's Day. The best medicine continues to be Zac and Alex and the rest of my family. When I am stuck at home and can't get out around people, David always brings the boys over to hang out with me. Even when I feel bad, they make me laugh and certainly lift my spirits. They are so sweet and loving.

I have found this entire experience to be nothing short of crazy. Just when I think I have everything figured out, something crazy happens. There are times when I feel like I am in control and feel like I am doing great spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Then, there are times when I feel like I have no control over anything and those are the times that I become very weak spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I do know that I have grown more as a person, specifically spiritually, throughout this experience--sometimes I just struggle to realize that growth.

I am proud to have each of you to share this experience with me. I look forward to sending the next e-mail update--the "no more chemo" update! I ask that you pray that I will be able to find the strength to get through this final treatment and to be strong spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Thanks to each of you for loving me so much! Your prayers continue to sustain me. I pray for each of you daily. You are all amazing! I'll be in touch soon!!! Much love, MK

MK update 6/8/2008

Hello all! Hope this e-mail finds each of you staying cool and surviving this heat! Well, this fourth treatment turned out to be the hardest thus far. I really have struggled with this treatment. I think maybe it was because my blood counts were pretty low when I received the treatment, but whatever the reason it has been a very long 12 days! This time, I seemed to have more nausea, more pain, and much more difficulty regulating my body temperature. I have been really, really hot for 12 days and the outside heat certainly has not helped. But, I started feeling better Friday and was even able to work for a few hours. I ended up having to spend some time outside while there and as a result have a rash on my hands and feet from the sun. But, it was worth being at work and that will go away soon I am sure.

Yesterday, we went to my parents house and spent the day with them. David, Zac, and Alex were there as well. We had a yummy, yummy lunch (Paula Dean has nothing on my mom!)--then we went to Papoose Park for a picnic for supper. That was so much fun. The food was great and the boys caught some fish and David and Alex climbed the waterfall. It was so nice to be outside and not be stuck in my house. And, any activity with Zac and Alex always proves to be fun! What a time to run off and leave the camera at home!

I think of each of you often and am in continuous prayer thanking God for each of you! Every time I hear the new Rascal Flatts song "Every Day", I think of each of you. The lyrics are as follows:

You could've bowed out gracefully
But you didn't
You knew enough to know
To leave well enough alone
But you wouldn't
I drive myself crazy
Tryin' to stay out of my own way
The messes that I make
But my secrets are so safe
The only one who gets me
Yeah, you get me
It's amazing to me

[CHORUS]
How every day
Every day, every day
You save my life

I come around all broken down and
Crowded out
And you're comfort
Sometimes the place I go
Is so deep and dark and desperate
I don't know, I don't know

[Repeat Chorus]

Sometimes I swear, I don't know if
I'm comin' or goin'
But you always say something
Without even knowin'
That I'm hangin' on to your words
With all of my might and it's alright
Yeah, I'm alright for one more night-

Every day
Every day, every day, every day
Every day, every day
You save me, you save me, oh, oh, oh
Every day
Every, every, every day-

Every day you save my life

The song is beautiful--the written lyrics certainly lack the beauty--but the meaning is still there. Each of you have literally "saved my life". "But you always say something without even knowin' that I'm hangin' on to your words with all of my might and it's alright yeah, I'm alright for one more night"--those lyrics sum it all up! That is what each of you do for me daily. And, I know you do this because you listen to God leading you to me. Prayers, calls, e-mails, text messages, Facebook messages, gifts--the list just keeps going. I am so thankful for each of you. I hope when you hear this song you will remember how much you mean to me and know how thankful I am for you and your support of me and my family. Know that I am always in prayer for you! Much love to you all! MK