I met my beautiful wife
Wemkea while we were both young college students. She lived
upstairs with her boyfriend from high school. For time sake... lets
just say "out with the old and in with the new." We became fast
friends and roommates who shared much in common including being
children of divorced family's, a quirky sense of humor and a drive
to be successful in whatever we set our minds to, even if it was how
to avoid going to class. She was exasperating, intriguing;
endearing and amazing, and eventually I realized that she was
everything I would ever want in a friend, lover, lifelong partner
and future mother of my children. I will never forget the
heart-pounding moment she agreed to be my wife nor the way I felt
months later when I watched that beautiful woman walk toward me
through flower covered arches toward the alter where we would pledge
our love and our lives to one another forever. Everything I had
ever hoped for or dreamed about was coming true!
As young newlyweds we moved
to Junction City, Oregon where I went to work for a vinyl window
business and Charli became both a homemaker and an Escrow
Assistant. In 2002 Charli's encouragement and tenacity
resulted in our taking a huge leap of faith and moving to Seattle,
Washington. We had spent 9 months with a picture of the Seattle
skyline on our
computer for motivation and before we knew it the picture on our
screen became the picture out our window. We arrived with no jobs,
no place to live $2500 in the bank and the dream of building a life
in the big city! ! Never in my life had I known someone who
believed so much in me or in our possibility, it was inspiring in
everyway! Looking back at our time in the city, I realize those
were some of the greatest days of our life.
We now live in Puyallup,
Washington where we are the owners of a candy store that Charli
manages while I work for a large IT reseller. Plug here for my
employer
www.zones.com
who couldn't be more supporting and amazing through this time.
Thanks guys. Back to the story, after much scrimping and saving and
with our eyes turned toward the future we were able to purchase our
first home!
On January 4, 2007 our most
heartfelt wish came true with the birth of our first child Josslyn
Wemkea Blue! I cannot begin to describe the joy and promise that
her entrance into the world gave to her mother and I! We were truly
on top of the world and planning for our future! Little could we
imagine that even at that moment an unseen invader lurking in
Charli's body was compromising that future.
Weeks after giving birth
through cesarean section my wife's back continued to be painful.
Charli contributed it to both the surgery and the lifting and caring
for our new 9 lb. 9 oz. daughter. However, when things didn't
change within a few weeks she insisted on seeing a doctor. The
original diagnosis was that she was harboring a kidney infection and
was put on antibiotics to clear up the problem. The pain in her
back did not improve after the round of antibiotics she was then
sent for a CT scan. The CT scan revealed 4 tumors in her abdominal
cavity lying near her spine and some spots in her liver. We were
referred to a cancer specialist who told us that Charli was probably
suffering from Lymphoma. He explained that while the diagnosis
could be frightening, Lymphoma is a highly curable disease and that
she could begin treatments right away after a biopsy.
March 14th
2007----Biopsy Results---FUCK
I remember it vividly but
to discuss it makes me want to puke so lets forget the details and
just say it was devastating. and ever since then,, every single day
of our life has been worse than the day before it. So that means
that every single day that you see us, it is on the worst day of our
life . (Thanks "Office Space" couldn't be truer) Until you've lived
it you will never know my deepest sympathies to those who have.
So Stage IV Melanoma.
Lymphoma 95% Curable
Melanoma less than 20%
Curable Less than 8% Curable depending on whose stats you go off of
and your definition of cured. Either way Magic 8 Ball---Outlook not
so good. I spent the next 3 days wildly searching the internet and
the only info I found said there was no hope. If finally stumbled
across two websites that provided me with a glimmer, both of which
are linked on the front page of this website and can tell you all
about Wemkea's first attempt at treatments; an immunotherapy called
IL-2. The details & science of which I am just not interested in
talking about right now, and the experience of which has left me
heartbroken. Blog takes over from here-
January: Josslyn is
Born
Febuary: Wemkea
misdiagnosed with Kidney Infection.
March: CT Scan,
Biopsy, and Diagnoses, MRI, 1st Round IL-2 14 Doses
April: Recovery from 1st
Round, 2nd Round of IL-2 11 doses..
May: Recovery from IL-2,
Steady decline in health, weight, and mobility, 2nd CT
Scan, start wemkea.com, start Chemo, start Hospice.
Someday-NED
Love to all
Family, Friends, MPIP
Wear Sun Screen, Stay out of
the Tanning Beds, and watch your Moles for growth or changes. Best
way to do it is to just go to the dermatologist routinely the same
way you do a dentist. Skin is your biggest organ after all. Spend
a little time at
www.mpip.org to educate yourself, if we had we might not be in
this situation
