Today was a day Sue considered one of the low points in her life. She spoke with Dr. Karulf this morning who confirmed two questions from the Tuesday scan.
1. The detection in her liver is positive. There is cancer in her liver.
2. The lymph node adjacent to her malignant tumor also has cancer.
This tells us that the cancer metastasized into her liver through the lymph node which means they will not be operating this Tuesday and will start chemo soon after they run a test or two in different areas of Sue's body to ensure the only areas of cancer found as of today is in the tumor, the lymph node and her liver. They will test her brain and a few other areas to make sure her treatment is adequate for the 3 areas they detected through her scans.
Part two was just as tough. Telling her students today was emotional and full of questions and anger. There were children that asked questions like:
Will you lose all your hair?
Will you wear a wig?
How long will you be gone?
Will you die?
In Sue's typical fashion, she addressed the questions direct, but positioned it where children can understand. There are students who have a great deal of hurt in their lives with promises made, but never kept and now someone they look up to and place trust towards, is now telling them she will be getting treatment for a dreaded disease and is not quite sure how many days she will be in school. Sue had one specific boy who would not look or address her when Sue announced the cancer to her students. He stormed out of class very angry and later in the day when Sue was walking down the hall, he walked toward her without looking in her eyes and gave her a huge hug to support what she is going through.
Very tough for her students to understand why this is happening to their teacher.
Later in the day, fellow teachers and staff came by Sue's class to deliver a gift basket full of chocolate. Sue always communicates that no matter what this cancer is doing to her, at least she knows she can have her chocolate and enjoy it. She has an abundance of supporters at Fowler middle school and is so thankful for the friendships.
Finally, even though today was mentally exhausting for her and the news she heard was not something to lift her spirits, she still found opportunity to praise God and remind us all that HE has a plan for her.
Please continue to pray for Sue. Pray that this cancer is curable and that she continues to fight this dreaded disease until it's out of her body. When Lance Armstrong had his cancer that spread into the brain, he fought through the chemo and radiation and turned out to be a fairly healthy person with 7 Tour de France yellow jerseys. I know Sue is a fighter and will take this head on as they begin to plan out the next steps regarding final tests and chemo treatments.
Continue to pray.
Greatly appreciated,
Matt
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2 comments:
Prayers and love in abundance to Susan and all the McCormick clan. To Susan's students as well.
Susan, you define grace and have such courage...thank you for your strength and wisdom- you are a true gift.
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