Tuesday's Child is Full of Strength

It is with tremendous sadness that I have to announce my dear friend JK's daughter was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma on Monday. Words do not express the pain and sorrow that I have for this family. But above all that pain I am trying to focus on strength, prayer, and positive thinking. I want to help make Tuesday's fight as easy on the family as possible. My friends and I are working on fundraising to reduce the financial hardship on her family. I also plan on going out to help relieve her family (we live hundreds of miles apart) for a few days and doing whatever I can to make life a tiny bit easier. If you would like to donate to Tuesday's fund I have an icon above and also on the right to click on. It will go directly into an account that JK has access to so she can pull out money for whatever she needs.

I have known JK since we were both pregnant with twins. We grew especially close and talk to each other all the time. I consider her one of my best friends. I have never met anyone who I have had so much in common with. She gave birth to twin daughters one month after mine were born. She already had 2 other sons so life was amazingly hectic to say the least. But she survived with such grace and humor which makes me feel confident she can handle anything life throws at her. Tuesday and her sister are such adorable little girls. Full of their mother's spunk and topped with the cutest curls on their heads. I could never tell them apart in their pictures even though they weren't identical. They looked so much alike! Then a couple weeks ago Tuesday seemed to start getting lighter. She was losing weight and getting tired easily. JK took her in to the dr and they said her iron was low and sent her home with some iron supplements. No biggie. JK has had iron issues in the past herself so we just figured she would give her some iron and that would be that. We joked about how it made her teeth look black and laughed at the thought of her having some super dark poop. Oh how I wish that was the end of the story. Sadly, we all know it wasn't. Tuesday got weaker and after a couple days went back to the dr for a checkup. Her iron levels were dropping dangerously low even with the supplements. After 2 1/2 hours of drs coming in and out and whispering in the hall they sent her to the hospital. JK called me on the way, terrified and tear filled. I tried my best to tell her not to worry but I think we both knew to start worrying. The next couple days were like a nightmare. Every update got worse. White blood cells at 300 (normal is between 4500 and 10000), enlarged spleen,liver, and heart, red blood cells being attacked by her own body. And then finally the news I will never be able to shake from my mind, Stage 4 Cancer. I felt like it was a dream. A sick and horrible dream. Thank God my SIL was standing right next to me to help me to the couch because I was in such shock couldn't stop shaking. I gathered some composure and called my dear friend JK. She was so calm when she spoke. She had already been drained of so much emotion and was trying to keep calm so Tuesday would fall asleep. I got the rundown. 6 rounds of chemo followed by 6 rounds of stem cell transplantation. Mainline being installed. Bone marrow taken. Tumor Biopsied. It was going to be a long week and even longer year. I didn't want to know the chances, I just wanted to know there is a chance. There is. So with that I am focusing on her being the part of the percentage who beats this. She is her mother's daughter and full of the same spunk and strength. She WILL beat this with all of our prayers and support. I have to have faith that she will. Her family needs us all to have faith that she will.