I would like to thank you for your support during my battle with cancer. I was diagnosed in July 2014, with Stage 4 ovarian cancer. I had surgery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the last day of July followed by 16 months of chemo treatments.
I was prepared to be called Home, as things didn’t look very good. I had much to live for, as we were expecting three grandsons to be born in August 2014. We now have 3 Hern boys to carry on the family name! What a joy the three boys have been when added to each family already having older daughters.
I didn’t find out about Lazarex Cancer Foundation until November 2014. I learned that it might be possible you could help with the expense of fuel for traveling back and forth for doctor appointments, chemo treatments, etc. What a blessing you have been through all of this! Thank you very much!!
We live 142 miles (one way) from our home to the cancer center where I was having treatments. After I completed those in December, the doctor wanted me to take what she called “maintenance chemo” which I did for the next 11 months.
I was blessed with a wonderful doctor (Joan Walker) who thought she was able to get all the cancer during surgery. She asked my husband if he had ever cleaned a fish. Yes, he had. She went on to say that basically she did the same thing to me, gutted me & de-scaled me to get the cancer out.
I am cancer free now, Praise the Lord!! There is no other way to say it other than . . . I’m a walking miracle! God isn’t finished with me yet here on this Earth. He still has some work for me to do!
The chemo treatments did cause me to develop a naval hernia which called for another surgery. I had that surgery, which seemed to be as major as my first surgery It took me awhile to recuperate from that!
We farm & ranch for a living. I am my husband’s helper on the farm. We don’t have any hired help. I drive tractors, the semi or smaller trucks hauling our grains to the local elevator. I feed or work cattle right along side my husband. Needless to say, from August through December of 2014, I was not able to help him much. He depends on me to drill our wheat in the fall as he is busy harvesting our soybean & milo (grain sorghum) crops. I could not be bouncing around on a tractor! No, I couldn’t ride the lawn mower either.
My husband was torn between being with me as I took my treatments and remaining at home to make a living for us. He went with some of the times. I was able to drive myself without any problems. He would feel guilty when he went to town and people would ask about me. I told him not to feel guilty about that! If I needed him to go, I would tell him. Only 6 of the chemo treatments really kicked my rear, but I was able to drive myself home “prior” to getting sick. It was just a fact of life that someone can’t be with me all the time. We did have some family members and friends come to help in the home for about 6 weeks after my first surgery. They were a real blessing!!
After my hernia surgery, I had to be real careful . . . I still am . . . when it come to lifting things. I was used to lifting 50 lb. mineral sacks to put out for the cattle or sack of seed to fill the planter or drill. I am once again able to do that, but I am a bit more cautious now.
Our family has a strong faith, but we needed our church family & friends to be with us along this journey. I graduated with a class of 49 students, from Boise City, Oklahoma. I let several of my close friends know what we were facing. Due to modern technology, one of our family members kept in touch with one of them, then in turn, they would send a text message, so we started a Prayer Warrior Group of 8 classmates. Talk about drawing us even closer than we were! After I improved, that prayer group is still going with others needing prayer for various things. God is good in so many ways!!!
Again, thank you for all your financial support & prayers through my ordeal. I am blessed beyond measure! I am thankful you can help so many others dealing with their own stories.
Love in Christ, Pat
