I've known Kristi for about 10 years. We worked together in Austin and have been great friends since then. About 7 weeks ago Kristi's husband, Charlie, wasn't feeling well. He was extremely pale and had an awful headache. They went to the ER in their small town. Waited for a while then decided to go home. The next morning they went back and were admitted to the hospital. Charlie was extremely low on blood. The doctors determined he was slowly leaking blood somewhere near his abdomen. The decided to transfer him to Houston to do more tests because they couldn't figure out what was going on. I believe it was at this point that they found a mass next to one of his organs in his abdominal area. His doctors decided to do surgery to remove the mass. It was attached to his spleen and a large part of his pancreas. I went up to the hospital to sit with Kristi and her family while he was in surgery.
Once the surgery was over the doctor came out to deliver the news that he removed the tumor and a large part of the pancreas. Kristi didn't even flinch when he told her he was certain is was cancer and that it was far worse than they originally thought. I do not for one minute regret being there when the doctor came out to deliver such personal news. But, I don't think I could have been prepared for what I was about to hear. I wanted to cry. I wanted to throw up. I was afraid to do either because I wasn't sure how Charlie's mom, sisters, mother in law and wife were feeling. It would have been selfish of me to break down and lose it in front of them.
Charlie stayed for 2 more weeks in the hospital (4 weeks total). This past week he had his appointment at MD Anderson to discuss his plan of action for beating this cancer. Unfortunately they did not get good news. He apparently has two types of rare cancer that are normally not seen together. According to his oncologist, the worst case scenario is that he has 9 months left on this earth, with his family, playing with his 3 year old little boy. At best he has 5 years. Charlie has already said he's not going out like this and he's going to fight like crazy to beat this horrible disease. I asked Kristi how she was being so strong. Her response, "Why ruin what we have left." I know Kristi has an amazing faith in God and I believe her strong faith has given her a lot of peace during this tough time.
Charlie has a Pet scan today. Please pray that there is no cancer in other organs. Kristi & Charlie are prepared for bad news but Miracles happen everyday and they meed a miracle and deserve one! Please pray that Charlie beats this cancer. Pray that he makes the most of his time left with his family, be it 9 months or 40 years. Pray for Kristi's peace of mind. Pray for their little boy Zane.
1 comment:
They are in my prayers, thank you for sharing their story. Miracles happen every day!
Post a Comment