Go here You can see caring for crystal on the right of a blog roll. I got this message in my email today and my heart just sank so Please all you scrappers out there... If you can Please red thru I know it's a long post.. but if you can help out.?
Dear Family and Friends:
As you may or may not know Crystal was diagnosed with an aggressive rare type of Cancer located in and around the Cervix. Unfortunately, since Crystal is HPV negative and completed annual Pap tests the problem wasn’t diagnosed until it reached stage 3.5 – 4 with the primary tumor growing to a length of 9 cm. We will continue to explore all options, but this is a fast moving disease that is not curative. This is difficult to say and it may sound like we are giving up, but that is not the case. We are going to fight this disease and expect good things to happen.
Radiation and Chemotherapy will start on November 24th and we are confident that new combinations of therapy and or surgery (not to mention the support of the entire Kaiser Oncology staff) will reduce the size and slow the growth so Crystal can enjoy time with Rylee, Aiden, Gaven, family, and friends. No one knows for sure, but we were told to expect a couple of years depending on how she reacts to the upcoming 6-8 week treatment. After that she must balance future treatments and quality of life. With a little luck, your support, and prayers we are going for her 40th birthday (about 6 years from today). We can do it…
We appreciate all of your support, thoughts, prayer. Our door will remain open. Crystal wants to make sure you know it is ok to visit and call anytime. Her only request – no flowers. Crystal, Jason, Gaven, Aiden, Rylee
Crystal is more than my cousin. She is more like a sister and a best friend. She is 33 years old and she has a 2½ year old son named Aiden and a 8 month old daughter named Rylee. She is married to Jason who has a 14 year old son named Gaven who Crystal treats as her own. Since her husband wrote the above letter to friends and family, things have actually gotten worse. After many tests, it has been found that Crystal has an EXTREMELY RARE and EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE form of Cancer. So rare that her Oncologist has only found one other oncologist in the entire United States that has dealt with anything similar to Crystals Cancer. There is no protocol for this. If things go well and Crystal responds well to ongoing Chemotherapy and Radiation, she could live another 2 years. Unfortunately, it could be less.
Crystal worked very hard to become a nurse. The RN program is a 2 year program. She completed that and took it one step further and continued her education to get her bachelors degree in nursing. The ironic part of all this is that she is an oncology nurse. When she told me she wanted to get into oncology, I thought she was certifiably insane. I could NEVER deal with all that sadness on a day to day basis. Oncology is a special calling and she got it. I don’t wish cancer on anyone but I definitely feel that it is NOT FAIR that it would attack my cousin who dedicated her life to helping cancer patients.
HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HELPHer biggest fear is that her children are so young that they will never know or remember her. How could this happen to my young cousin that has two babies depending on her? She asked me to create the Scrapbooks for her children so they would know who their mother was. She wants them to know what a great life she has, how much fun she is and of course how much she loves them. How do you let these children know what a wonderful person their mother was? You know how sometimes you wonder why life has taken you in one direction or another. I think it was in God’s master plan that I would be called to do this one day so He led me to open a Scrapbook Store. I don’t think there is a better way to accomplish this task than through our passion, our hobby...scrapbooking.
We spent Thanksgiving with Crystal two weeks ago. We went through her pictures and organized them so we can start making the scrapbooks. This is where we are pleading for your help. I know you are all very busy with your day to day lives but if you can find it in your heart and find the time to make a layout for Crystal's Scrapbook it would be a great big help for us. We need all different types of layouts. She will be scrapbooking her journals, emails that people sent to her and greeting cards. We would like these to be 2 page layouts with no set format. She will also be scrapbooking lots and lots of photos. We would like these to be 2 page layouts with several mats in different sizes but most for 4x6 photos. We would also like an exposed spot for journaling (no hidden journaling please).
If you do not have time to make any layouts, donations will also be accepted. Trust funds have been set up for Aiden M. LaGrange and Rylee M. LaGrange and an account has been set for all of Crystal's needs in the name of Caring for Crystal Foundation. Crystal has an amazing support system in Denver. I was there for 6 days and 3 of those days her friends brought home cooked meals for her and her family. Her coworkers at Kaiser have donated their vacation to her. When I left, 6 months worth of vacation had already been donated. It is amazing how kind, caring and generous that people are.
I also ask for your personal prayers for Crystal. If you belong to a church or a prayer group and you are able to add Crystal to the prayer list, I would greatly appreciate it. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe that there is still a miracle in store for Crystal.
I am not one to reach out and ask for help. However, I have never needed this much help. I feel so blessed to be able to reach out to so many people. I belong to an amazing sisterhood, a sisterhood of tens of thousands of scrapbookers. We all scrapbook for the same reason, for the preservation of our memories. Please help me preserve Crystal's memories for her children.
If you belong to any Scrapbook Yahoo Groups or Message Boards and you think anyone might want to help, please forward this email.
I am headed back to Denver in January. I would love nothing more than to present Crystal with completed Scrapbooks. She expressed to me so many times that this was her number one concern. If we can do this, she can stop worrying about this and start concentrating on her battle against her cancer.
If you would like to know more about Crystal, see pictures and keep updated on her treatment program and her fight against cancer, her friends have started a blog for her. It is www.caringforcrystal.blogspot.com. We have created a link on our blog that will take you directly to Crystal's blog. You can also click the picture above.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for any layouts that you can contribute!! Layouts can be dropped off or sent to Scrappin' Good Times 564 W. Arrow Hwy., San Dimas, CA 91773.
This is a trying time to anyone's family.. It's person for me...My aunt will be passing before the end of the year She also had uterus cancer and they can do nothing more to save her.. Thanks in advance for anyone willing to help out in some way.....I personally do not know this family.. I have shopped at the LSS but it really hits close to home with my aunt in the same situation only the doctor told us two weeks ago that she will be lucky to make it another thirty days... Cancer is a horrid disease my father passed from it my step mother passed fromm it.. Two of my uncles so it runs in our family.. Two of my aunts have had breast cancer and thyroid but are here and beating the odds...
Here we are all hard at work or at least pretending to be
All the food was always plated so nicely like a fancy restaurant this was our first morning breakfast a choice of two quiches
This was a dinner set up(they always had different plates the entire time
Here we are at Serrano's seems like that's all we did was eat
This is on the way into Sedona so much has been done since I have last been there.
and February is just about over I can believe it. We have blown thru two month already this year
This one is a bling challenge issued by Kristi
I supppose this one fits in the bling challenge as well.
So more coming this is just a few I need to go in and edit them somehow it's going to Picasa and I have a hard time using that I have to practice I don't know how to get my microsoft going with these that's easy peasy for me using that one. Some more to follow but this is just proof that indeed we did work up in Sedona
I will have a few more to post these I just happen to have handy dandy and quick and easy I promise the layouts are soon plus I have some more fabulous gifts to brag and show... I love the scheduled blogging
Then Teresa made some cake for us to eat with some fun candy that was stored...
More to come some fun T-shirts made for the whole group.. You will be screaming to have me remove the photo's from Sedona in the few days more to come.
