A life lost to cancer...

Mom has been doing well this winter and we had a great holiday together. We went to my cousin Heather's grandson's birthday party (Jan. 21) and mom got her fill of baby-holding thanks to cousin Travis who brought both of his boys - Rayland and baby Able! Mom was able to cuddle Abel as long as possible. He was a great baby the entire time and didn't fuss much. The birthday boy, Ryder, had some partying to do and it was hard to keep him on your lap for even .02 seconds. It was fun to see Ryder having so much fun and mom enjoyed the afternoon. We were only there for about two hours and were exhausted after that so I don't know how these people keep up with all of these little ones.

Lindsay Thul

I feel blessed that mom is here and doing well, especially after this week.

This week, my best friend Diane lost her daughter Lindsay to breast cancer after a brief 9 month battle. Lindsay was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) on April 18, 2016 and she passed early Wednesday morning, Feb. 1, 2017. She was only 29.

Lindsay fought hard, but as big as her fight was, her body couldn't handle this rapid, form of breast cancer.

I had not heard of IBC until Lindsay. It was a shock when she was diagnosed, because Diane's family (nor Lindsay's fathers side) did not have a history of the disease.

Last year at about this time, Diane was concerned about Lindsay's health because she had a swollen lymph node in her armpit/right breast area and it was painful. They (doctors) thought it was infected, and there were some other theories, so Lindsay went through some antibiotics and other courses of treatment. To me, that time was wasted, as we know now the cancer was invading her body. The diagnosis in April was too late.

Because Lindsay is a fighter, she went through numerous chemo "cocktails," radiation, surgery (mastectomy), etc etc. Slowly, it was determined that radiation was not helping as the cancer was spreading too fast, and then in January, it was decided to stop doing chemo as that was not working either. I don't know how Diane kept it together in these last couple of months, as she moved in with Lindsay to care for her, but she did it with grace and strength. Diane slept by her daughter's side every night, and then held Lindsay as she took her last breaths the other day.

It is a sad story to share, but worth sharing because Lindsay was adamant about sharing information and awareness about IBC so that others could be informed. Hopefully it will save a life.

A late diagnosis is too late.

Lindsay's Journey
https://www.gofundme.com/lindsaysjourney

Lindsay's IBC Facebook Group
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/222819628103009/

The IBC Network Foundation
https://www.theibcnetwork.org/