8 Years. “Mommy is OK”

8 years ago I was healing from a double mastectomy in the hospital. My everything had changed to surviving. A week later Lincoln (he was 3 yrs old) and I would be having the following conversation.

Yes, Lincoln mommy is ok.

8 years later, we are ok. 

We survived because giving up was never an option. 

1/26/2017, 6 years!

Every year as mid-January approaches I experience many mixed emotions. January 16th is the day Brian and I said our "I Do's" in 2004, that's a pretty special day.  Fast forward to January 17, 2011 the day I went in for a mammogram to make sure what I had felt was "nothing".  By the time that the abundance of  pictures and the excessive wait in that little cubicle for the radiologist to review what the tech had seen was my first sign that something was not quite right. Next, the walk over to get a quick sonogram and watching the images come up on the screen of a jagged edged shape that the tech kept measuring and re-measuring seemingly taking an eternity. I finally asked her when will I hear from my Dr, she replied: "this afternoon". I knew his office was closed because it was MLK day, and on January 18th at 8:30 am I heard my Dr on the other line "kiddo, we've got a problem". I was in my surgeons office on the 20th, biopsy done that day, and surgery scheduled for the following week on 1/26/2011. A whirlwind of events that would be the beginning of a journey like no other and several uphill battles that I wish upon no one, yet year after year the calls keep coming in that another friend or loved one has also heard, "you have Cancer".   It does not get easier, it never will.  Every time I hear that phrase, my heart skips a beat.  I have just completed my 13th surgery, 7th of the abdomen area, since this journey has started. The removal of the ovaries as directed by my oncologist is hopefully the last step in the process.  As with everything else, this surgery has taken a longer time to recover from than expected--but as my doctors know, that is the norm with me!  I can only hope and pray that the world will find a way to eliminate this terrible thing we call Cancer.  As I continue my journey, I know that I am strong enough to have beat this, I know that I am strong enough to help others, I know that I am strong enough to be a Survivor!

5 years....Cancer Free, I WON!

January 26, 2015....... Five years!

Exactly five years ago today I woke up from a deep sleep, that deep post surgery sleep. I will never forget looking to the side as Brian was sitting in the room holding my hand and having to tell me that the surgery went well, a planned double mastectomy, but..there is always that but... the cancer had spread into my lymph nodes. What we originally thought as being stage zero quickly went to stage three in seconds. I knew what that meant. Fighting to live just got a little harder. 

18 rounds of chemotherapy, 33 rounds of radiation, 8 surgeries, a staph infection, a pulmonary embolism, and all the rest that comes with "cancer"..Oh let us not forget the other things these past five years brought us, my dad's diagnosis with non-hodgkins lymphoma and then my husbands diagnosis with thyroid cancer. WOW! I never gave up.

No, "WE" didn't give up. Why, because of the undeniable support each of the people you will see in the pictures below and so many more that are not pictured! If you ever thought of us, helped us, gave to us, prayed for us and never gave up on any of us. We are truly grateful for you!  You know who each and every one of you are, thank you for being there through it all and helping us fight the fight so that five years later I can say, "I survived. Cancer I WON, I beat you!"

I truly believe that each and every day, every step, every moment and second, even those when I could barely lift my head, I was never alone. God's grace and His presence always carried me through it all.  My faith was steadfast, even in the darkest of dark times I knew, I felt at peace because, I believe. My journey comes second to my God who is first. "I AM SECOND"

For the last couple of days, I knew what today meant. It has been a hard day, one of emotions that bring highs and lows. In processing what I wanted to share through my yearly update the following came to mind, "WHY". I know everyone asks this question, I have, I did. Usually my answer was to not say "why" but to say "because".  Today I leave you with this...

WHY.....

"W" ....hy, for whatver reason, this is the path you are on right now. Either you made the decision or it was made for you. Own it, it is now part of who you are and will be. Time to make smart decisions about your future, ask, reasearch, and never evr give up.

"H" ....ow, do I deal with this? That is completely up to you. Your reaction and attitude will set the direction for what is to come. You are at a crossroad, which path will you take? Seek and ask for guidance, accept the help the comes your way and learn the word "humble".

"Y" ....ou! This is about you. What will you do? Become stronger or crumble, the choice is yours and yours to make. Remember, people are watching, your loved ones, your friends and even strangers. You get to decide what they will remember and say about you from this point forward. Your legacy.

With or Without hair, we kept smiling!

Tests and more test, year after year.

CTCA Phoenix and The Cancer Center in Midland both continue to be a guiding light.

January 2016, 5 years of surviving together!

Together we started, together we won!

5 years later, a fighter, a survivor, a warrior because so many loved me through it all!

My 5 year check-up at CTCA, I WON!

"Your baby sister/daughter has cancer" not something we ever expected to hear.
Each one of them, my parents, sisters and brother have helped in ways that leave a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes
and all I can say is I LOVE YOU because you each loved me more.

Wrist bands, t-shirts, trips, money, food, fundraisers, first pitches, prayers, calls, texts, visits, so much more.
The support these past five years taught me that blessings come in all different forms.

5 years of riding a roller coaster we didn't buy tickets for. Never expecting the loops that came our way.
We are known as the Texas Tornadoes for a reason, through the ride Together We Have It All!

Our Reinke Iowa Family! They each loved and supported us from a thousand miles away.
Tom and Nancy made trips and stayed for weeks to help do the things we just couldn't do.
Distance may keep us apart, family keeps us together. 

One love, two cancer survivors! #ReinkeStrong

This was taken at my Sister Sylvia's church First Baptist in Odessa.
Sylvia and my parents have been a phone call away so many days and even nights,
we could not have fought and won without all of
 the prayers, love and support, they personally gave but also asked for.
 "I prayed for you" yes so many did! Thank you.

4 years later - 1/26/15

I have had a sense all week that my "anniversary" was nearing. Not our Wedding Anniversary, that was 1/16/15😍. This specific day is the one that changed my definition of life. Surgery day for Breast Cancer and my double mastectomy.

Looking back that day served a purpose, it was meant for so many reasons. At the time I remebering feeling peace that everything would be just fine, today I see that was just the beginning. My journey is not finished, I am cancer free but not free from everything that encompasses treatment after hearing the words, meaning I still have to take medication to keep it from coming back. As with all medications there are side effects.

My faith has never wavered, I can say it is only stronger now. We have seen the true meaning of standing by someone in times of need as friends have come and gone, family has never left our side (they don't have a choice;).  Each and every person has touched our hearts and lives for the purpose of that particular day, week, month, and year or still is impacting each of us.  For this we are so grateful. Humbled has taken on a new meaning as the love and support never ends, when you believe in our God, He always provides in so many different ways. Again, Thank You!

Today these are my thoughts. I have never lost, only learned. I did not only win, I became a warrior that beat Cancer when so many have lost the fight, through that I am stronger than ever. I am a SURVIVOR, because my Healer is first and #IAmSecond #Blessed & #Healedinsomanyways

~Leticia

Brooke's Blog

Hi this is  Brooke,

This is my video blog update. On my moms progress and much more. Sorry its a little long and a few too many "ands." Hope you enjoy it. Thank you for your support, its makes my moms day go by faster when she sees yalls messages(:

Finally.....

Day 8 of this hospital stay. Thursday morning at 7:30 am, Leticia received her orders for discharge from the hospital this morning. The official diagnosis is a staph infection, non mrsa strand, confirmed by the results of the culture that was taken 3 days ago.  She will continue on antibiotics at home but will have to continue to monitor this as it could ultimately last for six weeks. Bottom line is she gets to go home and continue her rest and rehab from the reconstruction surgery.  White blood cell count is back to normal and she has had no temperature for the last 36 hours. I personally would like to thank everyone that stopped by to see us in the hospital along with everybody who sent flowers/gifts. I am going to need a really big box for all of these flowers!! Breaking up the monotony of the hospital is the best gift you can give me.  Also, Sylvia-as always, thank you for being here and everything you do to help us.  We actually have a special visitor in town today-Brian Welch, former lead guitarist for KORN, is performing at Rock the Desert today and is coming over to hang out before the concert.  Thanks again and we will talk to you soon.  Brian

Monday update....

Monday update:  Hopefully we have had a touch of a breakthrough.  Sunday afternoon we noticed some drainage coming from a drainage tube site near her left breast.  This site was one of the original drainage tube sites from the surgery on July 11th. This morning, her doctor came in to look at it and was able to get an extreme amount of drainage to come out of the spot.  He had originally scheduled another ct scan for this morning but after looking at this spot-he decided to let it drain on its own.  They have been checking and cleaning the drainage every hour and continue to fight the infection with the antibiotics. So at least we now have some visual evidence of the infection and makes it a little easier to deal with. The down side is that is will still be another 3-5 days in the hospital. Thanks, Brian

Why.......

After returning home from San Antonio on Tuesday evening, Leticia started to get the chills and was extremely fatigued. She had a fever of 103.4 that night and was prescribed some antibiotics to take care of it-case closed-right? Wrong. Temperature continued to yo-yo the next day and she felt like she was back on chemo treatment with as bad as her body was reacting. We had her blood tested as well as some other tests done and there is definitely an infection somewhere in her body as her white blood cell count was extremely high. She also has a partially collapsed lung. Unable to get herself admitted to the hospital, we decided to continue the prescribed methods and to see if she could at least be comfortable. On Thursday, she had a scheduled check up with her surgeon who had performed her double mastectomy back in January of 2011. The surgeon, Dr. Viney, was adamant that if her temp spikes back to 102-103 range that she get to the hospital immediately. Thursday night at 10 pm her temp was back up there so I called 911 and had the ambulance come get her. I don't think I could have gotten her to the hospital on my own. She was treated for sepsis but it came back negative and that has been the only postive thing that has happened since Tuesday. She has massive bouts with being cold that were lasting an hour each time-you couldnt put enough blankets on her. Once we were in the emergency room, they ran another X-ray and saw that she still had problems with the lung and ran the ct scan here and they believe that they have found the infection in the left breast-extremely deep in the tissue. There are no outward signs of the infection other than the fever so it is discouraging to say the least. They are continuing to pump antibiotics into her to get this infection to subside and get rid of this temp. Her appetite is non existent and she is generally just feeling miserable. I dont believe that she will be released until next week-Monday would be the earliest that they said they would release her. I will keep you updated......Brian

Friday, July 20th.  Leticia had her first follow up appointment today at PRMA in San Antonio and the results could not have been better. Of the four drains that she has-two were removed today which is a huge relief for me-Brian.  Every time I would put her "back together" after her shower, I would end up crushing one of those drains and have to start over again.  The nurse at PRMA said that if she had to have this surgery, she would want to look like Leticia does after 9 days out of surgery-so that gives her a great sense of relief. Also, Leticia had a bunch of questions that were answered today and the answers she got were exactly what she needed to hear.  Overall, I think she is doing great-she is still in a tremendous amount of pain from time to time but things seem to be progressing well. We will go back next Tuesday for another check up-this time with Dr. Ledoux and we are expecting one more tube to be taken out on that day.  After that hopefully she will be released to go back to Midland.
Thanks for reading all of the updates and more to come.......

Leaving the Hospital!

Today is Tuesday July, 17th and the doctor had to almost kick me out of the hospital yesterday.  I was apprehensive to leave the comforts of the 5th floor, not the hospital food, more the safety net that everyone provided for us there. I was doing so well, pain control was all we were doing at this point and that could be accomplished on our own, so away we went.  Sylvia went back to Odessa and Brian and I checked into our hotel room in San Antonio where we will be for another week.

This has to be the best invention, shampoo in a heated shower cap!

I knew the surgery would be difficult and the pain on a high scale, but what I didn't realize was how dependent I would have to be on everyone else for everything! Talk about loss of control. At this point I can not use my arms to push myself up, lift them above my face, or behind me or pick up anything that is heavier than 10 lbs., that means my purse must be downsized- drastically!  When I am sitting back someone has to literally lift me up.  All I know is this is only temporary and I have a new appreciation for many new things now.

At one point we counted how many things I was hooked up to and it was 13! They were monitoring everything.  Since this was a tissue and blood vessel micro vascular transplant, we had to make sure it didn't fail.  I must say it is nice to look and see a completely flat stomach but, I would still take hours at a gym over this!

The day after surgery! 

I can't thank my sister Sylvia enough for stepping out of her comfort zone and coming to San Antonio on her own.  It wasn't easy, the Med Center is very large and complicated, she managed, with just a few hiccups :)! My mom and dad, Brooke and Bianca would Skype every day and that set everyone at ease back home.  I just love technology!  I want to also Thank my Aunt and Uncle Jesus and Yola and my cousins Jesse and Jennifer and their kids' for coming from Ft. Worth to see me while I was in the Hospital- those visits meant more than you know.  Nate and Kristi dear friends of ours also stopped by, the hours would tick by so having any break meant a lot.  We also receive countless texts, and phone calls, the support is never ending. Thank you all!

My Sister Sylvia!

This seems like a very slow healing process but every day seems to be better than the last.  Thank you again for keeping up with our journey!

~Leticia