Rosa's story - a story of hope

[OceanBlue]

I have to share this... It's just too good not to. It's a long story, so I've summarized it below.

Rosa is a 27 year old mother of 4 and a caregiver at an Alzheimer's unit. Or she was until last month.

Rosa was diagnosed with cervical cancer in May. She underwent chemo/radiation for 6 weeks - all the while working full time in an alzheimers unit. The doctors said there was nothing more they could do and that the cancer had already spread too aggressively to treat. Rosa's family found a doctor in Mexico that offered a "cure". Rosa was flown there and underwent surgery - it was a last ditch attempt to save her life as she was literally bleeding to death at this point.

Fast forward - she returned from Mexico after a month - They had removed her uterus and a cancerous tumor twice its size.
She returned home, weak, in pain and with raging infection. She was put on antibiotics for 3 months, along with a number of pain meds.

Meantime, in July, another doctor "opened and closed" her - too much cancer, no hope that they could get it all and she'd never survive the surgery and chemo/radiation treatments.

Fast forward again to 2 weeks ago. Rosa was admitted to the hospital, diagnosed with a severe kidney infection, additional tumors on her ovaries and cancer that had spread to her stomach. Her husband was by her side 24/7 and cried when he was told that he should prepare himself and their 4 young children for Rosa's imminent death. Rosa said she wanted to go home, that the hospital was doing nothing for her but feeding her medicine that she could take at home.

1 week ago, after IV antibiotics & fluids, Rosa begged a family friend to get her out of the hospital and back home to the kids. Her friend went to find a doctor that would release her.

Here's where the story gets interesting. The doctor said he would release Rosa, but she needed to stop taking all pain meds. She agreed and went home. This was last Sunday, 11/18. On the 19th, Rosa looked worse than ever, she and her husband tearfully agreed that she needed to get her affairs in order.

Tuesday, 11/20, her friend went to visit again. Rosa was out of bed, on the couch looking peaceful and happy. She said she felt better. That she had gotten out of bed Monday night because she couldn't sleep; she didn't want to disturb her husband and the children. She was dealing with withdrawals from morphine which may have caused the "vision" she had. She said that her recently departed grandmother visited her and told her that she needed to stay off the pain meds, go see her priest and that the cancer was gone. Rosa reported that when she got up Tuesday morning, she felt like she had a hole in her stomach and she needed to eat.
And she did. For the first time in nearly a month.

Wednesday night, our mutual friend delivered some tamales. A co-worker of mine agreed to make them for the family as it's traditional holiday fare for hispanic families and a symbol of hope. Rosa ate FOUR. She's still dealing with the withdrawals from the morphine, but she's staying strong. In a few weeks the (new) Dr. will test her to see what's going on with the cancer. His thinking is that the masses in her stomach may be blood clots from the meds, rather than cancer. Also, that the tumors on her ovaries may not be cancerous afterall.

Please pass the tamales and a big ol' heaping helping of HOPE!

[CATCH AND EAT]

Lets hope and pray the her health returns. Would not be the first time this has taken place. Doctors don't know everything but you certainly hope they are smart enough to make a good diagnosis. Thanks for the story of hope Jen.