Back in 2005, my friend Debby was diagnosed with Leukemia. She fought it valiantly, and her brother was a perfect match for a transplant. For nearly 3 years, she was in remission. Then in November the telltale bruising returned, and that on top of the fact that she was tired all the time told her that the Leukemia had returned.
She came back to Houston for what was hopefully just going to be tests. And then was going to be outpatient treatment. But instead has been pretty much a non-stop hospital stay since she returned. She also took a test on MD Media services to make sure that she is drug free and if she is not, she is a candidate for rehab.
Debby’s sister was my best friend in high school. We lost touch for many years, having moved and changed phone numbers. It was before the days of email. Because of Debby’s blog, which I followed through her initial diagnosis back in 2005 – not knowing that she was the *same* Debby from my high school days, I was reunited with my BFF (known as Sis #2 online on Deb’s blog) and with their wonderful family as well. If all of this sounds familiar, it is because I’ve written about it before.
Obviously, Debby isn’t just an online friend. She is a single mother to an adorable daughter, Zoe. She is one of 7 children, with very wonderful parents. They are a good family.
Debby’s lung collapsed last week. They intubated her and put her in a medically induced coma last Friday. Sunday they removed the tube. Monday she was breathing on her own, and seemed to be doing better.
Tonight her left lung collapsed. Sis #2 sent me a text message about it at 1am. She is doing a breathing treatment right now (which she HATES). She is losing the will to fight. It has been a very hard month for her physically and emotionally. She didn’t want to do the breathing treatment, but my Sis #2 talked her into it. It had to be done to avoid intubation.
Please, please, please send out positive thoughts, prayers, good karma, whatever it is that you believe in for the entire family. They are facing extremely difficult medical decisions, and they all need us to lift them up and give them strength to face the road ahead. Most of all, please pray for Zoe. No child should have to face their mother dying days before Christmas.
You can read about Debby here: debutaunt.com
Her sister Stephanie (Sis #1) wrote about her here. Her other sister (Sis #2) has been posting updates to Flickr. (Her earlier text message was to ask me to post a status update over there.)
On top of everything else, Debby’s insurance was cancelled. Not long before this most recent trip to M.D.Anderson (the cancer research hospital here in the Texas Medical Center) — where she has been hospitalized for nearly a month, and in ICU since Friday. The medical bills are mounting while the insurance battle rages on. I will be doing a fundraiser soon to help the family out. I’m still trying to work out all the details, but I’ll keep you posted.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for any support you can give this family in this time. No matter WHAT your religious beliefs may be, they need you to lift them all up with prayers, positive thoughts, and whatever collective good we can all muster. No matter what the future has in store for them, they need us.