Trusting in Jesus When times are hard.

Brain Cancer!!! No, not me!!!

  It all started in January of 2008.
I started getting sick. I would throw up just about everyday, sometimes a couple times a day, but the flu was going around; the whole family was sick. So no one  really thought anything of it.Then about mid February I started getting headaches, really really bad ones. Pressure headaches, my head would feel like a shook up pop can ready to explode! In the middle of the night I remember waking up and just wanting to scream out loud!!!
   I'm from a big family( there are nine of us all together). We have always tried to find a natural path to take before consulting a doctor and getting a prescription drug. So I put peppermint oil on my head and forehead, because that is supposed to be really good for migraines and nausea. I took tons and tons of vitamins. My Mom said if we could get my Immune system  up it would fight off whatever was making me sick. That's how we have always done it and only on seldom occasion has any of us had anything worse than a cold or the flu. Well nothing was helping, so I was taken over to our local Hospital to get checked out. The pediatrition said, the headaches were caused by some tight muscles in the back of my neck, which  massaging them everyday would help. She didnt know why I was throwing up all the time, she thought maybe my stomache was upset from the trauma of the severe headaches. She prescribed Zantac, to help ease my stomache.
    A few days later I developed double vision, this was about the middle of March. We assumed at first that the double vision was a side effect to the Zantac, and discontinued it but the double vision did not go away, only got worse and worse.  Finally we gave in and went to see an eye doctor. He could tell by the swelling behind my eye that there could be a very seriouse problem,"A growth." So an MRI was ordered. An MRI is similar to a cat scan, a cat scan has a lot more radiation which is bad for your body and would not get as clear of a picture in my case.
  Okay, well they found tumor, about the size of an orange that took up 1/3 of my brain. It was surgically removed on March 14th of 08. Thanks to lots of prayers from friends and family, the surgery was a success. As far as the surgeon could tell he had romoved everything without damaging the tissue. I recoverd quickly and returned home within a weeks time. =)
 After the tumor was removed it was sent off to a lab to be examined. They tested it to see how cancerous/ aggressive this tumor was and how they could treat it. The results came back and it turns out this tumor is a very very aggressive brain tumor called medulloblastoma!!!
  So treatment for this thing, The doctors only recommendation  was chemotherapy, very high doses of chemotherapy and radiation. They pushed us and pushed us to do chemo, but we did not feel like God was leading us to go that route. So we looked into natural treatments and other ways to fight this thing. The first thing we tried was carrot juice, we got on a diet called the, "Hallelujah acres diet." which was a very strict vegetarian diet, with no animal products or sugar what-so-ever. It's said that sugar feeds cancer and so does some of the chemicals in meat.
  I drank 48 oz. of carrot juice everyday! And actually turned a shade of orange.  I didn't mind the orange that bad because it was summer so it just looked like a really good tan. So I drank carrot juice and took lots vitamins for about six months, all the while I was getting frequent MRI's to watch for growth in a piece of tumor they found a few months after surgery. 
  fortunately, they had seen nothing so far. We watched and prayed for God to heal me. Then in September I saw a nutritional doctor who evaluated me and said that I was not getting enough protein on the vegetarian diet, so he said to eat at least some organic meat. He also said eat less carbohydrates since they just turn to sugar in your body. I was taken off of the carrot juice also, because he said carrot juice was not needed with the supplements he had put me on. I was glad for a change! My entire family, who was doing the diet with me, was glad we could eat meat again.   
  Shortly after that, the MRI's started showing growth in the piece of tumor that was leftover. We could not go back to carrot juice and the diet, and the supplements I was on were not enough. We looked up on the internet "Alternative cancer treatments" but most of the clinics that it referred us to were outside of the US. We did find one clinic called, "The Burzinskie Clinic." that was in Houston, Texas. They treat their patients with what is called "antineoplastons." It's to complex for me to explain how they work though. It sounded very promising, and a lot of peoples lives had been saved by this clinic and the theropies they used. So the whole family all nine of us left Indiana and drove 20 hours to Houston, where we didn't even have a place to stay. We had left immediatly, and had had no time to make reservations anywhere.
  We needed a place to stay for at least four weeks. It was hard to find a place even for one night because, a hurricane had just recently passed through an area nearby and all the cheaper, more affordable hotels were filled up. With our family we always need at least two rooms and we like them to be connecting. So we looked and looked and finally found "Drury Inn" it was a really nice hotel, that gave us a discount. We stayed there While we searched for apartments that would allow you to stay for only a few weeks. After four days of making phone calls and such, we found some cute little apartments that fit our budget, we rented an already furnished apartment that had three bedrooms, one with a queen size bed and two with two twin size beds. My twin brothers who are 7yrs old slept on air matresses on the floor. It had a nice little kitchen and living room, everything worked out well. God was watching over us the entire time, providing for all of our needs.
  We stayed there for four weeks, during that time I was given a couple different meds by the Burzinskie clinic, as well as put on there antineoplastons. We returned home a couple weeks before Christmas, which I was very glad we did not miss Christmas. I continued Burzinskies treatment at home, we all continued to pray for my healing, our entire church as well as family continued to pray for me. Everything seemed to be going well until Easter, the scans started showing growth again. slowly but surly I started getting sick again. I was taken over to our local hospital and then transferred over to Childrens Hospital, where they did a whole bunch of scans and decided that surgery would have to be repeated!  So there I was again, it happened to be on exactly the same day as my first surgery had been, this time the tumor was in a spot that was harder for the surgeon to get to. It was located closer to the brainstem.
  The surgery went smoothly except for a few bumped nerves that will heal in time, it wasn't a complete success, he saw tumor still in there that he was not able to get to without permanantly damaging all the nerves in that area.We decided to go ahead and give radiation a try and according to the oncologist radiation works a lot better if followed by chemotherapy. So, I began radiation as soon as I got out of the hospital which was about eight days after the surgery.
   I completed radiation about  three weeks ago!!! It took a total of six weeks altogether, everyday for six weeks one of my parents drove me up to cinncinatti for treatment. Through out the treatment I did very well, minimum side effects. I got a little nausea but took a perscription drug which made it go away, my skin got really dry and my hair fell out, but those were the only things! Most people lose a lot of weight, they lose they're appatite, and are just really sick through the whole thing. My Radiaologist said, I was the only person she ever saw gain wieght while going through radiation treatment!
   And thats where we are now. At the end of june I get another scan to see the results of the radiation. The doctors really want us to do chemo next, but it's a 10 month deal so we're praying God takes care of everything and he will. There has been blessings coming out of this deal. I qualify for Make-a-Wish Foundation, which is for children who are under the age of eighteen who have been diognosed with life threatening diseases and illnesses, Make-a-Wish grants their one wish. A lot of kids choose to go to Disney World, I decided to go to Hawaii. So for six days Make-a-wish is sending my family, the whole family, to Hawaii!!!    If you have any questions for me feel free to ask, make comments I like feedback. =D 
   These are a few pictures of me with my family.
        

Untitled Comment

8:32 PM, May. 27, 2009 .. Posted by LariaChronicles

I am so sorry!!!!I'm glad you're ok!

Midna

Hello Sarah!

3:00 PM, May. 28, 2009 .. Posted by Tessa

Wow--I hadn't heard your whole story yet--how amazing! God is so good, isn't He?!

I wanted you to know that I'll still be praying for you--as you've seen, God does answer our prayers! In James, it says that the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. I know you and your family have seen that throughout this whole thing.

I know I owe you a PM--it will be off soon!! I hope you have a wonderful time in Hawaii....I'll bet it will be tons of fun! Take lots of pictures and make lots of memories!

Love, Tessa