my story

As we near the one year anniversary of when my battle started, many people are asking me to tell the story again..what really happened? Many people know bits and pieces, but have asked to know more. 

Better still, some have asked to share my story as a testimony to share how God helped me and my family through the hardships we faced in 2012.  I am happy to say that I feel ready to tell my story as a testimony of the amazing love, power, and grace of our Lord.  I consider it an honor to be asked to share my story. Lena Warnock, co-owner of Mattie Mae Designs, awesome mom and friend, and inspiring blogger has asked me to share my story of faith on her blog.  It has posted today, and I also wanted to share my story here.  Below is what I wrote for Lena, courtesy of ..
http://www.mattiemaedesigns.com/blog/

Love to all!


A story of faith.
I am a 28 year old, married, mother of two beautiful children. My Avery is 3 and little Owen is 1 year old. My husband is an amazing Godly man. I am also a Family Nurse Practitioner. Life is good..let me share my recent story with you.
 February 1, 2012 was an amazing day for me. For starters, I was 36 weeks pregnant. So imagine my surprise when a reassuring whisper in my ear woke me in the wee hours that morning telling me “he is coming today.” A voice I attribute to an angel or the Lord preparing me for what was to come. “He” or Owen William Liles was born later that day. He was a healthy, amazing little boy, and showed no complications from his prematurity. I went home and although sleep deprived, I began recovering normally from delivery.

Katelyn and newborn Owen

 February 29th is my birthday, yes my real birthday. Leap year actually came this year. My family was over at my house loving on Owen and celebrating my birthday. After nursing my son, I doubled over in horrible abdominal pain out of nowhere. Suddenly I hemmorhaged horribly. I called my doctor and she called in some emergency medicine to make the bleeding stop. She instructed me to call her back immediately and come to the hospital if it happened again.
The bleeding stopped immediately. My husband, Robbie, took the night shift with Owen so I could rest. At 5 am that morning, I nursed again and felt intense pain once again. I rushed to the bathroom and experienced a massive hemorrhage. This time was even worse. I lost so much blood that I found myself in and out or responsiveness.
My doctor said to rush to the hospital. I think I was afraid and in denial, because at one point I attempted to walk down the stairs with assistance but became unresponsive, so my husband called 911. Friends, in that moment I experienced an out of body sensation. In the stairwell I was able to look down at myself unresponsive and see my husband and mother panicking over me. It was a matter of seconds, and no, I did not see a light, Jesus, or any loved ones. As a believer, even in that moment I knew that I was not going to die, because my Lord and Saviour would have been waiting for me. He wasn’t calling me, so I kept fighting. I could hear everyone and would sing in my head to try to stay with it, even when I was not able to respond. At the hospital, it was determined that I lost 45 % of my total blood volume, almost died, had emergency surgery to make the bleeding stop, and was given 3 blood transfusions.
Let’s fast-forward a little. About 1 week later I was asked to come to the doctor’s office. My husband came with me. I noticed the nurse was skiddish talking to me. Then, walked in not one, but two teary eyed physicians, both of which are friends who I have seen patient with as a nurse practitioner. They proceeded to tell me that my cells from surgery looked abnormal and were sent to Harvard for further evaluation. There, they diagnosed me with Choriocarcnoma- a cancer that grows in the uterus after giving birth in about 0.02% of pregnancies.
I immediately met my oncologist who told me about the intense chemo that I would face for an extremely rapid and aggressive cancer. From there I was immediately take for CT scans which found multiple tumors in my lungs.
Here’s a timeline of events: I was diagnosed on Thursday, immediately forced to stop breastfeeding, met with the surgeon who would give me a port in my chest on Friday, was hospitalized Saturday for another hemorrhage, had surgery for my port Monday, and when I woke up, I received 3 more blood transfusions, and started my first round of chemo immediately.

Lena & Katelyn (with Owen) in July 2012.

 I faced 18 weeks, or nine rounds of chemo. I experienced chemo every single week, both inpatient for 2 days straight and then outpatient. I also underwent a total hysterectomy, which was extremely heartbreaking for me and my husband. I did not get a break from chemo to have surgery, I received chemo 3 days after surgery. I have been told that my chemo regimen is one of the top 10 strongest that there is. Due to the extreme poisonous nature of my chemo, I was not allowed to touch my children for 48 hours after each infusion. That was by far the most difficult and torturous part. We called the days that we could touch ‘snuggle days’.

Katelyn with Avery & Owen on rare “snuggle” days.

These were days that I could feel my soul healing. In the mean time, my daughter wore hearts that I had kissed with bright red lipstick, and I would be propped up in bed or in a chair to be near my babies. Many of you can understand the breaking of a mother’s heart to not be able to touch your own children.
 I won’t weigh you down with every chemo side effect because as you can imagine, it was horrible. Two of the most frustrating side effects were complete numbness for 6 months in my hands and of course, the unspeakable experience of my hair falling out and having to let my mother and husband buzz my head. Try explaining this to a then 2 year old. We made the best of the circumstances by wearing matching chemo scarves, and even princess wigs to match…mine a real wig and hers..Snow White.
There were so many uncertainties and changes in this experience, but the only constant was my ever-strong, ever-sovereign Lord and Savior.
I am thankful that in the dark nights spent in the hospital when I could barely walk or open my eyes, I could still feel God all around me and I could feel prayers whispered by so many on my behalf. I am thankful that He carried my family through these dark times, and protected my children and husband. When I would get home and lay on the floor so I could talk to Avery, she would tell me how beautiful angels are with their great big wings and pretty hair. She told me her uncle lived in heaven-an uncle whom even I have ever met. Faith like a child. God comforted my two-year-old even in my absence.
 Now I am completely healed, with a less than 1% risk of it ever returning. It is nothing short of a miracle.
Speaking of miracles, let me list a few for you:
 - if I had not gone into spontaneous preterm labor, the cancer could have progressed into my brain and liver before being discovered. Miracle.
- if I had not delivered Owen early, there was a huge chance that he would not have survived due to the cancer…only 20% live. Miracle.
- if I had not hemorrhaged, the cancer would not have been discovered until it was too late. You have to thank God when He reveals Himself ALWAYS, not just when He reveals himself in easy ways. Miracle.
- I could feel angels at my bed during treatment. Miracle.
- there is no evidence whatsoever of cancer scarring in my lungs. Miracle.

The Warnock family wearing their “Kick Cancer Kate” shirts – everyone wore them on the same day and took photos to post online as a sign of support and encouragement for Katelyn.

- Family, friends, and even strangers carried my cross with me through prayers, cards, gifts, and starting the “kick cancer Kate” movement!!! And it helped me “kick it” for good. Miracle.
- I am able to share this with you today. Miracle.
- I am healed. Miracle.
My last round of chemo was a mere 5 months ago. I am currently working through post traumatic stress for obvious reasons. God has given me wonderful family, friends, and counselors to help me with this. And I still fight physical side effects to chemo, but those little smiling faces keep me motivated to not give up.
And my hair? I’m like a chia pet! Grow baby grow!

Lena & Katelyn at a shower in January 2013.

Throughout this experience, I had and continue to have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to everyone who has touched me and my family during this time. I also have a sense that no words could fully express my thankfulness. I am thankful for my faith, and for my heavenly Father’s presence in every happiness and in every struggle.
There are two ways people usually handle cancer. One is to become very angry and resentful, and the other is to be thankful to the One who carries us through our struggles. I choose to be thankful. God did not give me cancer and it probably broke His heart to see me go through this. Cancer is an evil of this world. God does not promise that this life will be easy but He does promise to be with us every single step of the way and that is certainly true for me. Cancer has afforded me the opportunity to reach out to others struggling with illness, battling alongside a loved one struggling, or challenged by their faith life. I have reached many people that I have never even met. I am thankful that God allowed me to bring comfort and peace to people in so many ways.
 I hope my story helps remind you to seek God at all times, in all circumstances without fear or hesitation. I am honored to share this with you. Be thankful!