As Krista's family, we thought it was important to provide an update on how things progressed since the last blog. The following post is how the family feels Krista would have written it.
Her last post mentioned the results of her CT scan, and the possible treatment options. It was decided that she would receive IV chemotherapy on a weekly basis in London, starting on October 18th. She still required hydration at home, following each chemo round.
October 20th Krista was honoured to be the face of hope for Taking Steps Against Breast Cancer event. She felt it was important to be there with family and friends to continue to encourage and give support to others facing this disease.
Krista continued chemotherapy every Friday, during this time she was determined to live life to the fullest. She celebrated Halloween with her niece and nephews, she went to a Toronto Maple Leafs game, a Sting game, she went on a girls night to Fusion, she continued to get her Christmas shopping done and she added to her tattoo collection. She was always on the go and never slowed down.
November 22nd she had another round of chemo. Little did she know this would have been her last.
She had an appt on the 28th of November with her oncologist. Again her blood results would not allow her next chemo treatment. She had also developed neck pain, in which she received pain medication for.
December 2nd she jetted off for her next adventure, this time going to Whistler, BC with friends. She was determined to attend the wedding of a long time friend. With her fatigue and continued pain in her neck, she chose to take in the sights instead of being extremely active.
She returned home December 7th, tired but she truly enjoyed herself. She was scheduled for an appt on December 9th again with her oncologist in London.
At her appt, chemo was again, off the table, due to her low blood work. The neck pain continued to be an issue. She was scheduled for her next CT scans on December 12th, in Sarnia. Her oncologist then added a CT of the head to help determine what was causing the pain in her neck.
During the next two days Krista spent a lot of time at Mom and Dads house. She complained of extreme fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite and the constant pain in her neck - the pain meds didn't seem to help.
December 11th vomiting started, which made the pain in her neck THAT much worse. As a family, we convinced and encouraged her to make the trip to emerge as it was unbearable to see her this way. CT scans were done that night of the head, chest and abdomen. The results came back around midnight. The results were not what we expected. Krista was shocked, surprised and scared all at the same time. She was told the cancer had spread to her brain,liver, spleen, the tumours in her lungs had increased in size and there were more. The pain in her neck was caused by a cervical fracture presumably due to cancer spread inside the bones. On top of everything, her lungs had fluid present making it hard for her to take deep breaths.
Although we knew how aggressive this cancer was, we never imagined that it would spread so quickly in 3 months, especially while taking chemotherapy and having positive results from previous CT scans. This is why Krista struggled to understand how fast her cancer had spread.
December 12th Krista was admitted to hospital. Palliative care was involved. The goal was to control her pain and nausea and then returning home. While in hospital Krista had to have difficult conversations and make difficult decisions. At the age of 34, know one should have to discuss or decide about resuscitation or where she would want to die.
Krista along with all of us where overwhelmed with the advancement of the disease and short prognosis.
Another decision to be made by Krista was whether or not she wanted to go through with radiation of her whole brain and neck. The radiation in her neck would only be a one time thing, relieving some of the pain. The whole brain radiation would have reduced the size of the tumours, but would have come along with serious side effects. All the radiation would have been done in London. Unfortunately that decision was never made as her condition had declined to fast.
On December 19th, the doctors felt comfortable enough to send her home with 24 hour supervision by family and daily nurse visits. Because she was so weak, she was sent home with a walker, and family had to continue administering her meds for her. During the next few days Krista was very aware she was home. She continued to worry about the family, trying to send us home, promising she was fine. Unfortunately her mind became foggy, needing increased help doing her everyday tasks. Behind her fogginess, her personality continued to shine through, showing her humour, her determination to be independent, and giving her opinions on every conversation, as she always did.
Due to the tumours in her brain, she became more agitated and more restless, unable to get comfortable and settle. With the doctor visiting daily at her home, she noticed Krista's decline, and encouraged her to transfer to Hospice. On December 22nd Krista agreed to be transferred to hospice. In her typical fashion she did not want to draw attention to herself by having the ambulance lights on (this is what she was most worried about). The ambulance showed up quietly, and with her sheer determination she got up on the stretcher herself and once she arrived at Hospice she got herself into bed.
Krista spent less than 24hrs at Hospice. The entire time she was there, her family was as well. She was comfortable and well taken care of.
The morning of December 23rd, with family at her bedside, she peacefully passed.
**Staying positive does not mean that things will turn out okay. Rather it is knowing that I will be okay no matter how things turn out**
The next post on Krista's blog will be the personal reflections, thoughts and feelings from her family about Krista and her illness journey.
