by Missy, Nate's wife
Part One:
"Through sickness and in health"... the vows we spoke to one another just short of two years prior to October 24 when Nate was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
We had a picture perfect life together- met and fell in love in 2009, married in November 2011, bought a beautiful new home in 2012 right before the birth of our amazing son Pierce on January 9, 2013. Everthing was too good to be true.
Nate was doing incredible work at his company in medical sales, as he always does. He had just gotten back from a business trip in Boston where he had interviewed for a manager position in Georgia which he was offered a few days before he was diagnosed with AML. He started feeling like he had the flu and had fever for a week. After getting blood work at a family practice doctor in Missouri City, he was directly admitted to Methodist Hospital in Sugar Land, Texas. He was seen by a Hematologist who diagnosed him with AML. The journey begins...
The day after he was diagnosed I got a call from my manager that we needed to meet up. I was the Marketing Director for a wound care center and was just getting started in the position. I never expected what was coming that day. I was let go due to the company budget not being able to hold my position at the time. Wow. Now what?
We checked into MD Anderson a few days later and began treatment. After two rounds of intense chemotherapy, Nate's platelets never returned to a normal level in order to receive more chemo so it was determined that he would need a bone marrow/stem cell transplant. The search began for a match but unfortunately, there wasn't one. This is when they decided Nate's best option for a cure would be to use stem cells from umbilical cord blood.
Nate checked into the hospital on March 28 and had his transplant on April 3 after a week of heavy chemo. Later he got a call from his company that they could no longer keep him employed and would be coming to pick up his company car.
Following transplant, he was like a newborn baby, highly susceptible to infections and not able to resume a "normal" life for a while. He cannot work for six months to a year. I never thought we would be a family living on disability and unemployment but here we are. 2014 had other plans for us. We are strong in our faith in God and our love for one another. We will get through this and be stronger for it.
Part Two:
Nate had to come back into the hospital on July 31. It turns out he had EBV-PTLD (Epstein Barr virus induced lymphoproliferative disorder) which has advanced rapidly and turned into diffuse large B cell lymphoma. He received 3 doses of Rituxan but the tumors continued to grow. He just finished Cytoxan to try to get the lymphoma under control while he waits to receive an experimental treatment involving killer T cells. He will be transported to Methodist Hospital this week to have the cell therapy infusion and then it's just a waiting game to see if they do the job to rid the lymphoma from his body. We have never been so scared yet so strong in our faith. We know God is the great physician and has Nate in His arms.
UPDATE:
From Missy: "God called Nate to his eternal home on October 19, 2014 around 4:10 p.m. I miss him so much and am getting by the best I can. The medical bills continue to roll in and the world keeps moving although mine feels like it has stopped... come to a screeching halt."
No comments:
Post a Comment