My Angel

My beautiful sister joined a flock of angels early yesterday morning.   We will all miss her forever.   Her spirit will continue to soar .....

Carolyn Gifford Brennan
4-17-77 - 3-16-12

Celebration of LIFE service to be held at East Woodstock Congregational Church.  Sunday March 18th, 2012 at 3pm.

In lieu of flowers,  please send donations to:
The Nora Brennan Fund
Po Box  119
Woodstock CT 06281

Saying Goodbye...

So, I am sorry that I have not updated the blog in two weeks.  To be quite honest there was nothing positive to report and I was having a hard time with that.  When Carolyn went to Maryland they determined that she would not be eligible for treatment at NIC.  They also dramatically cut her life expectancy to 8 weeks.  Last week as a final effort Carolyn received her first Chemo treatment.  Which, in turn caused her much sickness.  She went into the hospital Sunday night and is experiencing liver failure.  At this time we are in a palliative care situation.  Carolyn is at peace in her heart and it ready to return to the Creator.  Please hold peace in your heart, knowing that she is happy.  We are at Mass General and will be until the end. 

I would also like to take a moment to share my overwhelming thanks to Carolyn's friend Douglas who has stood by her, lovingly and taken excellent care of Carolyn on a 24/7 basis.  I will forever be grateful to him for the love and care he has shown my sister through these difficult times.  Thank you forever.

I will update the blog with service information and will continue to post reflections of my experience loosing my sister and the fight against cancer.

Carolyn remains strong and is still such a fighter, but looks like in the end cancer will win this battle.

Thank you all for you support.

Love, Val

Prayer's Please

Hello All,

A lot has happened in the last week.  Last Wednesday was Carolyn's CAT scan.  The results showed minmal tumor shrinkage.  This was disappointing news for everyone.   Fortunately,  her doctor's did not skip a beat.  I am happy to say today she arrived in Maryland.  Tomorrow she has an interview with the staff at the National Cancer Institute to determine if she will be an eligible candidate for clinical trials.   Carolyn has asked me to type a little message tonight and ask everyone to send her lots of thoughts, prayers, and positive energy.  She really needs it over the next 48 hours.  We are all very hopeful that she will get into the program at NIC and can start healing soon.

Thank you all for your continued support,
Val

Fabulous Fundraising!!

     

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai

     
    A little over a month ago I started an online fundraiser for my sister.  The overall success of the fundraiser has far exceeded anything I could have dreamed of.  I am forever grateful to all of those who has given, and continue to give support and prayers. 


    It was funny how it came to me,  I went to CT to visit family for Christmas.  After seeing my sister, I was laying in bed late at night sobbing a bit about how sick she is and realizing she needed some immediate financial  help.  If I could not make her feel better maybe I could help take some stress out of her life.  I was racking my brain as to what kind of fundraiser I could do for her, something BIG, something epic, something  LIVESTRONG style.  As I cried I flipped through the TV channels and the story of one woman's infertility caught my attention.  The woman was explaining how she and her husband had always wanted children, had difficulty conceiving,  and now wanted to try in vitro  fertilization.  The cost was 8000 dollars and they did not have it.  They proceed to tell of a website that they listed their story to raise money.  There goal was 8000 in 30 days and they raised 10,000 in just  6 days!  I knew this was the answer.  I spent a few weeks perusing the website, trying to figure out how it worked.   In this day of social media it seemed like a godsend had fallen into my lap.   I went "live" with the fundraiser on a Thursday evening, posted it on my facebook page.  Our goal was to raise 2000 dollars in 90 days.  We hit our goal within the first 12 hours and the total continues to grow.  In addition to the online fundraiser,  I have also received some very generous checks in the mail.  


    Earlier this week a milestone was set, we hit 10,000 dollars!!  This is such a blessing to for my sister, and again I can not thank you all enough for your support!  We have 49 days left in the fundraiser.  If I had it to do again I would have made the length only 30 days, but I set it at 90 and can't change that now,  so on we go for 49 more days.  


    In the days to come,  I can only hope that my sister continues to feel better, heal, and keep finding strength to fight.  Today, Carolyn is in Boston, meeting with doctors and receiving a second CAT scan to determine if there has been any shrinkage in her tumors.  We are all anxiously waiting the results,  praying that the treatment so far has been successful.  I will be sure to post results when I find out.


    If anyone is interested in sharing the fundraising information, Carolyn's story can be found at...
www.indiegogo.com/Carolyn-Gifford-Brennan-Fundraiser   We are asking contributors to pay though paypal when possible.   Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! 


  

And so it goes...

One of my all time favorites,  Hieronymus Bosch,  Garden of Earthly Delight,  center panel. 

Hello All, 


      Tomorrow marks the 3rd week of Carolyn's treatment.  Last week she was experiencing small bursts of energy allowing her to do small tasks like cook a meal or make her bed.  These are small but positive signs.  One nurse said, if you are seeing positive results on the outside that means something good is happening on the inside. This week the treatment is catching up with her and causing more uncomfortable side effects, but she is so strong and she continues to fight.  Next week will mark 4 weeks of treatment and a repeat CT scan will be performed.  If all is going well,  we will see tumor shrinkage.  I will be sure to update this blog as soon as we have good news.  Please continue to send prayers and positive energy Carolyn's way.  She has received several thoughtful gifts including a prayer shall and healing stone bracelet.   We can not thank you all enough for the outpouring of support. 

Be Well, 
Val

A few hang ups... but back on track!

 Miss Nora enjoying some play time in the fresh snow!

Hello All,


As you know last week Carolyn was scheduled to start her treatment in Boston.  It turned out that her liver functions were not well enough to proceed with the preferred course of treatment.  They tried two days in a row.  When we got this info we were all a bit deflated, unsure of what was next.  Luckily, The team at Mass General Hospital did not waste a second.  They immediately put Plan 2 into action.  Carolyn was able to start treatment at home on Thursday.  She is taking a medication 2 times a day that will target tumor shrinkage.  We are unsure of how long this treatment plan will last, they really want to revert to Plan 1 if we can get her liver functioning were it should be.  Carolyn is remaining filled with positive joy, thanks to the amazing dedicated staff at MGH.  She has a team working hard on her side and she is blown away with there professionalism, support and positive attitudes.  In addition to her medication they are setting up acupuncture, reiki and spa treatments for Carolyn. 


We continue to thank you for your prayers and support! 

A new FOE, I like it......

The writing lesson, by Albert Anker, 1865. 

Hello All!! 


Today is the day we have been waiting for!  Carolyn's treatment will begin in Boston today, she will be closely monitored throughout the day.  We are all praying that her body takes treatment well and begins to shirk those tumors.  


Here is a great article we found, Keith Flaherty is Carolyn's Doctor.


A new Foe for Advanced Melanoma: drug offers hope to half of patients with deadly skin cancer.



A new drug may change the landscape of melanoma treatment, offering patients a treatment option beyond anything now in use against the skin cancer. Tests in people whose melanoma had spread showed the drug was able to shrink tumors in most patients and, in a few cases, even wipe the growths out, scientists report in the Aug. 26 New England Journal of Medicine. The compound targets the protein encoded by a mutated version of the BRAF gene that underlies melanoma in roughly half of all patients.
"This is clearly a turning point" in melanoma treatment, says study coauthor Paul Chapman of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. "It's the first time we're actually treating the genetics of the tumor."
Most early-stage melanomas can be surgically removed and stopped. But patients' prospects take a deadly turn if the cancer spreads beyond an initial skin lesion. Chemotherapy drugs benefit fewer than 20 percent of such patients.
In the new study, Chapman, Keith Flaherty of Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues treated 48 patients who had BRAF-related metastatic melanoma with PLX4032, a drug devised to stop the mutant BRAF protein from triggering cell growth.
Of the 48 patients, 37 experienced tumor shrinkage of at least 30 percent. In three, the tumors resolved completely. This tumor suppression lasted from three months to about two years. Some patients still take the drug. On average, the patients on the drug relapsed after nearly eight months, Flaherty says. That's because the tumors develop ways to subvert the effects of PLX4032.
The results add to other recent good news. In the Aug. 19 NEJM, scientists reported that an experimental drug, ipilimumab, seems to extend survival in metastatic melanoma patients. And a 2008 study found that melanomas linked to the less common c-kit mutation were susceptible to the leukemia drug Gleevec.

COPYRIGHT 2010 Science Service, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2010 Gale, Cengage Learning. 

FIGHTER'S WIN!!!

                   

Making the best of it all, Carolyn using her new wheelchair in Boston! 

This past week Carolyn spent 4 days in Boston.  She was given several tests to determine her strength and ability to undergo treatment.  She passed them all and we are so happy that she will be starting treatment on Tuesday the 17th!!!  She has gotten a wheel chair and it has provided to be very helpful for her to reserve energy.   She is able to walk on her own,  just not all day long.  There was a lot of walking throughout the hospital and to and from hotel room.  Someone from The Department of Homeland Security stopped her on the sidewalk and comped her 2 tickets to the Celtics/ Bulls game and she was able to enjoy some of the game! 

I wanted to share a comment that was posted on the fundraiser board.  While everyone has showed so much support I felt like this particular quote provided a good summery for the current situation.

"...... I had the privilege to work along side Carolyn and she was such a hard worker.  She always made me laugh, no matter what mood she was in.  This makes me feel very sad BUT you are a FIGHTER Carolyn, and FIGHTERS WIN!  Don't ever give up hope we are all here for you and we love you! "  ~ anonymous

Please continue to check blog for updates.  This will be a big week, I am hoping and praying that Carolyn's body accepts treatment, bringing a smooth transition to healing.  

To Boston.. To Boston...

Little Sisters by Currier and Ives  

This is one of Carolyn's favorites. 

Carolyn would like to Thank everyone for their prayers and support.   She is overjoyed!  She wants everyone to know that she is going to kick cancer's a**!!!  In the meantime, she has asked that family and friends check into the blog for updates on her condition and treatment status.   Too many incoming calls are not allowing her to relax.   She has asked that you contact me for messages or her home address to send a note in the mail.   I will try to update the blog as much as possible.  


This week Carolyn will go to Boston on Tuesday for a day of testing, then return home.  We are expecting her to start treatment at the end of the week.  She will travel to Boston for a few days every week for treatment then return home.  She is starting a 4- 6 week course of medication combined with and MEK inhibitor.  And results should be seen fairly soon.  For her particular cancer, Chemo only has a 5 % cure rate.  She is in the BEST hands in Boston, her Doctor is very cutting edge, aggressive and progressive.  She will be at Mass General Hospital in the Melanoma Center.  In an ideal situation, after Carolyn's treatment in Boston, she will travel to the National Cancer Institute in Maryland to participate in clinical trials.  That is the ideal, she has several markers she must meet to qualify for these trials.  We are far from that at this point but that is the goal.


In the past two week, they have managed to get Carolyn's pain and vomiting under control.  While she is still tired, it is good to see her feeling better and spending quality time with Nora.  She is on a very strict diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, fish, and some chicken.  She has also started juicing and is drinking fresh juice several days a week.  


Thank you all for your continued support, have a beautiful week!!! 

Gratitude

My heart is filled with gratitude.  Thank you all for the outpouring of love, support, prayer, and gifts that have come our way.  I am overwhelmed by the response.   Just over 24 hours ago I launched an online fundraiser for my sister Carolyn, I had no idea it would be so successful.  In just one day it has far exceeded my dreams.  I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for their generosity. 


Please feel free to continue sharing the fundraising information with your friends and family.  


http://www.indiegogo.com/Carolyn-Gifford-Brennan-Fundraiser


Thank You!!

My Beautiful Sister.....

This is my beautiful sister, Carolyn Gifford Brennan 34, and her 6 year old daughter Nora.  My sister was recently diagnosed with Stage IV Metastasized Melanoma with BRAF  mutation V600E.  This blog is dedicated to her and her fight against cancer.  It will serve as a place for family and friends to get updates on her treatment and success, as well as a safe place to share emotions about how it feels to have someone you love fighting for their life.