The Journey Begins

As all of you know by now, yesterday was certainly a life altering day for our family.  The news that Natalie's biopsy results show a malignancy have come as quite a shock to all of us.  While we know very little information at this point, we do know that Natalie is a remarkable person who will fight this battle with grace and determination.  She has made it clear to all of us that this is not going to get the best of her.  We were able to gather last night at James and Cindy's house.  It was a very special time for all of us to be able to express our support for Natalie and Stephen.  Natalie is being such a trooper and was even joking about the potential of losing her hair and what the appropriate term for her chest region should be.  A little laughter was certainly the best medicine for everyone. While it was our goal to make her feel better last night, in the end it seemed as though she was the one that made all of us feel better.


We have decided to start a blog as a journal for Natalie’s journey with breast cancer.  In the upcoming days and weeks, Natalie will be undergoing many tests and procedures.  As we start to understand more about the specific type of cancer that she has, she and Stephen will be making decisions about how to proceed with a treatment plan that they feel is best suited to her needs. 


Rather than Natalie, Stephen, James and Cindy feeling as though they have to repeat information to multiple people, we will be posting it to this website as soon as updates are available.  They will be updating Derek, Jana, Dillon and Kimba and one of us will always update the site immediately.   Not only will this allow us to communicate quickly to everyone, it will free up our conversations with Natalie and Stephen to be those of encouragement and uplifting thoughts.  We don’t want to overwhelm them by asking them to repeat medical jargon over and over again.  They will certainly be doing enough of that as it is.


We want this blog to be a place where all of you can share HAPPY thoughts and well wishes with Natalie and Stephen.  They will be reading our entries and your comments so feel free to send them words of encouragement here.

As soon as we get more information we will pass it on to all of you.  It is unlikely that we will know anything else until Thursday afternoon.  If you want to contact any of us there is a link to an email address in the profile of the blog.  Derek, Jana, Dillon and Kimba all have access to the email address and we will check it frequently.  For those of you who may not know all of us, Derek and Dillon are Natalie's big brothers.  Jana and Kimba are their wives. 

All of that said, here is what we know so far:

+    Last Thursday, 1/12, Natalie went to the doctor to have a lump that she found on her breast looked at.  The doctor found the area to be of concern and sent her to have an ultrasound done.  After looking at the ultrasound, it was decided to go ahead and perform a biopsy of the area at that time.

+    Yesterday, 1/16, Dr. Kingman in Corsicana called and told her that the pathology report on the biopsy came back as malignant.  He said that she would need to call the office and begin getting a referral to an oncologist and possibly start chemotherapy.  It was 5PM when the call was made and Natalie did not have a chance to ask any additional questions.

+    Today Natalie and Stephen have been working to get copies of her medical records and test results.  They are going to be transferring her care to a doctor here in the metroplex.

+    Tina Brackeen, a close family friend that works in the healthcare industry and breast cancer survivor was able to get Natalie an appointment with a doctor in Arlington named Dr. Khurshid this Thursday, 1/19 at 10:00AM.  They also met a man at their church today whose daughter is a doctor at MD Anderson in Houston.  He offered to help them set up appointments there if they were interested in pursuing that route.  The game plan for now is to wait and see what Dr. Khurshid says on Thursday before making any further decisions.

Many people are already asking what they can do to help.  Here are some practical things that would be helpful to Natalie and Stephen at this time.

+    PRAY PRAY PRAY!  The most important thing we can do for Natalie is offer up prayers on her behalf.  Some specific things to pray for:

-     Pray that the cancer was caught in its earliest stages and that it can be treated aggressively.

-     Pray for the doctors that will be treating her and their wisdom to help Natalie and Stephen make the best and most educated decisions as it relates to her care.

-     Pray for peace that can only come from the Lord.  Pray that Natalie does not feel anxious as she is undergoing tests and procedures. 

-     Pray for Stephen as his heart is broken for his wife.  Pray for his strength as he supports her through this journey.

-     Pray for James and Cindy.  As parents, they would do anything to take away her suffering. 

+    Gas Gift Cards – Natalie and Stephen will be doing a lot of driving to and from Arlington now and throughout her treatment.  Given the cost of gas, that would be a very beneficial gift to them.