My Guardian Angel
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
By: Brittney Heath

Since I was 2 months old my aunt, Yvonne, took me in and raised me as her own child. She was the healthiest veggie eating, exercise machine, non-smoker and mother until she was diagnosed with lung cancer.

My aunt Yvonne is 47 years old; she is the most beautiful, healthiest woman I know. She also has lung cancer.

The symptoms started with stiffness in her knees and clubbing at her fingertips, she had trouble getting up stairs even though she was an active woman. We did research together, turned out the clubbing was caused by a lung disease or arthritis... we were hoping for arthritis.
The chemotherapy started very quickly after that as well as radiation... she even went and stayed at the hospital while in treatments and only came home on the weekend... it was hell not having her here with me.
I filled my head with as much knowledge about cancer as I could, including studying biology to learn what happened to her cells.

It is now one year later and this woman, this hero of mine is still fighting with everything she has got. The cancer is in her right lung, the smaller or the two and the furthest away from the liver. Recently, her pleural fluid (the fluid that is outside the lung so the lung can expand and retract easily) has started doubling and tripling its normality. So she now is not only fighting cancer in her lung, she is also fighting to breathe. The excess fluid makes it difficult for her lung to expand making it hard for her to breathe... it’s awful because she looses her breath even just speaking to someone. This week she is going in for surgery to have a talc powder sprayed on her lungs so the fluid will not gather and she will be able to breathe without having to constantly get the fluid drained.

She also is having chemotherapy again; if it works she will need this chemo every 3 weeks for the rest of her life. If this chemo doesn’t work the doctors have estimated her life at 9 months after chemo has stopped. I ask everyone with someone who means the world to them to pray for my incredible aunt. Without her, I’m just a shell.

I love you Yvonne, get well soon!
xoxo
Brittney