Lisa Carlton's Story

This is the story of the woman who I ran for. I am giving her family my medal to let them know that they didn't fight the disease alone. We all fought for her and we will continue to do so until we find the cure.

My Story is very simple. I have cancer. Same as many other people in this world. At first it seems a little unfair. You shouldn't have to be sick the same time you kid is. Of course, Joshua is my hero. I look up to him every day and know that if he has the strength to get through chemo, then so can I. I think he was lucky though, he didn't know to be afraid.

Ok, I hope I am doing this right. Hi everyone. I finally made it home last week. I feel like I have been gone for months. Looking back I'd have to say it started in October when we moved into the conference room. There were several days where I had severe itching on my hands and feet. So bad I had to take benadryl for days. Then my neck swelled, as everyone remembers. Remember that funny doctor? His office called today and left a message wondering when I would like to schedule my surgery to remove the lymph node in my neck!! We already talked to his office in December and let him know I was in the hospital to have surgery. Nice to know he has been paying attention. My official diagnosis was given to us the end of last week. I have Non- Hodgkins High grade Large B cell Lymphoma. I have another meeting with my oncologist tomorrow to discuss the treatment. It will need to be aggressive, like the cancer. They talk about it going into the brain, so they want to put chemo in my spinal column. Lot's to talk about. I only have 1 goal and that is to stay alive for my children. It makes sense that this is an aggressive form of cancer because it seems like it came out of nowhere and moved so quickly. I am trying to be real and open with my daughters. I have every intention of living through this, but they know better than anyone that there are no guarantees. If they can lose their father, they can lose their mother, too. I will take every edge that I have. Eating all healthy foods, using a medical hypnotist, and praying every day for God to carry me through this. I am truly blessed to have the love and support of so many wonderful friends and a beautiful and devoted family. This sucks, but is the way life is. Complaining won't get me anywhere, but fighting hard will..

Lisa has 3 children
Daughter Katie is graduating from high school this june
Daughter Kalie just turned 11
and Son Joshua just turned 4.

Here is Joshua's story

Joshua has a condition called X-linked Hyper Igm. Basically, he is missing 2 of the 3 components of his immune system.

When he was 6 months old Lisa took him to the doctor because she felt he looked pale and just wasn’t ‘right’. The doctor told her to take him straight to the hospital that moment. He had pneumonia and had to be intubated and put on a respirator. He was diagnosed soon after that.

The best treatment for this condition is a bone marrow transplant, and he was put on a list. He was matched with a donor of umbilical cord blood. He had to have extensive chemotherapy to kill what little immune system he had so it would not fight the new bone marrow. This was when he was one year old.

He spent several months in the hospital, in isolation. The doctors were giving him huge amounts of steroids to help his lungs heal from the pneumonia, but the steroids were also suppressing his new immune system and preventing it from ‘grafting’.

When he finally came home he was on oxygen 24/7 and was taking 12 different medications, some up to 5 times a day, plus 3 breathing treatments a day. He could not go outside, they could not have anybody at the house, no immunizations, and they wore (and still wear) a mask if anybody even thinks they are coming down with a cold. They can’t even open the windows because the wind may blow in germs. He could not eat anything fresh; only processed food because of the risk of bacteria.

There were several times when Lisa did not know if Joshua would live. Any mistakes they made in his care could have cost him his life. He turned 4 on May 25, one day after Lisa passed away. He will probably always be on oxygen, and his health will never be normal, but his survival is Lisa’s greatest accomplishment.

At the same time Joshua was fighting his battle, Lisa’s ex-husband (father of her 2girls) was dying of kidney cancer. Lisa took him into her home & took care of him. He passed away in her home. So her daughter’s have lost both parents.

Joshua’s father was at Lisa’s side & was a constant support for her.

Lisa’s parents will be taking care of the children.

I am not posting Joshua's pictures but if this will help you understand how cancer sucks, let me know and I will show you.

I asked if there is anything we can do to help Lisa's family with this hard time and I haven't heard anything yet. If you want to help in some way let me know and I will keep you up to date on this. If you want, you can write a card for Lisa's family and I will forward it to her family.

Louis