Wait . . . what?

When I started this crazy cancer journey two years ago, I knew what was facing me. I knew the reality of what a Stage IV Metastatic diagnosis meant. Never to be cured. Which I have learned to accept. But, in Cancerland, there is this something that people strive for, hope for and dream of: NED. NED stands for No Evidence of Disease. A more commonly used word for those non-cancer patients is remission. NED means that there is no cancer detectable on your scans, but that cancer cells still do likely remain in your body. You could be NED or “in remission” for years, but you will never be deemed cured; cancer is a vicious little shit and could always come back. I can honestly tell you that the past two years I have prepared myself to never hear those words spoken to me.

I had my set of quarterly scans last week. My bone scan ended up revealing a fracture in my foot. Between chemo, hormone therapies, and other drugs to rid my body of cancer that past two years it has also weakened my bones and muscles. I am at a high risk for osteoporosis so they told me to get used to stress fractures, especially in my feet. Monday I was given an air cast boot to wear for the next 6 weeks. Yesterday I talked with my team about the results of my CT and bone scans . . .


                                               NO EVIDENCE OF ACTIVE DISEASE

Wow. I really just wrote that. I had to ask a couple times if they were sure if that meant that the scans didn’t reveal any cancer and what exactly did it mean if there wasn’t any they could see. Officially, they won’t give me the NED or “remission” status because they cannot say for sure that there is no cancer in my body. However, there are no tumors that they can see. The lesions I had in my bones are healing. When I asked if it meant I was finally NED doc said “It’s as close to remission as we’ll get”. And you know what? I will friggin’ take that. I’m not cured. I never will be, but, I don’t need it because I have something better . . . TIME. This means I have more time with my family.


So now what? Well, this changes nothing as far as my care is concerned. I will be on my Herceptin treatment for the rest of my life no matter what. I will go every three weeks and get that infusion. Herceptin stops the cancer from producing rapidly and is what has gotten me to where I am today. If I stop, the cancer comes back, simple as that. As far as my bones are concerned, the lesions where they previously saw bone mets are healing. Not having active cancer in them does not mean I can now run a marathon or be pain free. Cancer has greatly damaged my bones. I have been going to PT and exercising to help decrease pain. I will still go for quarterly scans for the rest of my life as well.

I am happy. I am sad. I am shocked. I am numb. I am angry. I am about a gazillion emotions right now. I was off of the Cancer Roller-coaster for a long time, now I am right back on it. I am happy that this has happened to me. I am sad that it hasn’t happened to others. I am numb to this feeling of having more time. I am angry that I have lost so many friends to this disease. For a long while I wished for good to come of this, and I never felt it did. I stopped wishing, and I started praying. I prayed and trusted. I let go and let God. I trusted that whatever He has planned for me will be, and in the end, it will all work together for my good, even if it brings pain and sorrow. If He blesses me with being able to say that I do not have any detectable cancer in my body for the next 5, 10 or 20 years then I will praise and thank Him each one of those day. And if one day, my cancer comes roaring back, then I will ask Him for guidance, strength and courage; and I will still praise and thank Him for each one of those days, no matter how hard they will be. 

I’ve done exactly what I set out to do, and I am going to continue to do it. I am gonna keep working on that bucket list, because, I know, life is short, so I am gonna live the heck out of it.

I'll Love You Forever

Motherhood.

It’s seen me at my best moments. It’s seen me at my worst moments. It’s been the toughest, most rewarding, horribly-best role I have ever had. Motherhood is the crazy-hide-in-the-bathroom-wanna-run-away-heart-so-full-of-joy-indescribable kinda love. I’ve just always wanted to be that perfect Mom. It’s what I strived for.


I don’t know what made me value my motherhood by a series of achievements and busyness but I became the Mom that everyone asked “How do you do it?” Looking back, what I really hoped for was someone to sit me down and said “Listen crazy, take it down a notch”. Social media has been a double edged sword in my motherhood journey. It’s been great to connect with other Mom’s, but a constant pressure of how to raise your kids was exhausting. You could read everywhere and see every other Mom, and they told you how to feed your kids, organize your house, schedule your time, decorate, craft, and even spend time with your kids. Did I really need to read about how I should spend time with my kids? No . . . but I did because society made me feel that I wasn’t good enough. I was so obsessed with being the best Mom that I could be that I couldn’t see how much I was actually missing. I didn’t have time for much, including myself or my health.

Go back 3 years. I cleaned every day. I mean I cleaned. Every. Day. I made dinner every day. We barely had money to eat, let alone eat out, but I made 3-4 course dinners. EVERY. DAY. And we ate only on glass plates with silverware that needed to be washed every day. The kids made a craft at least twice a week. I made sure they had “learning time” to work on knowing ABC’s, writing their names, knowing their shapes and colors. I had to bathe them every other day. We lived on a schedule. I was a mix between Captain Hook, a Marine and Martha Stewart. Holiday’s had to be elaborate. I decorated for every season. My house had to look good. My kids had to look good. I had to look good. But no matter how much I did, or how engrossed I was in those routines . . . I never felt like I was living up to my own expectations.

And then my world came crashing down. 2 years ago, a doctor walked in to my hospital room and told me my breast cancer, which we had found out about just two weeks before, had actually spread all over my body. That I likely would never be cured and that they would try to save my life. I didn’t care about being perfect anymore. I didn’t care how clean my house looked, if I made dinner, if we ate off of paper plates, if the kids bathed, if I bathed- being perfect doesn’t matter when you’re very existence is threatened.


Time mattered. Moments mattered. Memories mattered.


All of the sudden, I wasn’t just going through the motions of life. I was living them. Really living them. The wind was like a hug from God himself. The beauty in my twins stopping to smell flowers made me not worry about getting places on time. We slowed down. I appreciated a messy house filled with toys. A book became more than a book. It was an intricate story with real meaning.


I’ll love you forever

I’ll like you for always

As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.



I took Stephen out for lunch, who is healing great by the way, and an elderly woman and her older son sat behind us. It reminded me so much of that book. Here I was, being driven crazy by this little boy and yet being so incredibly in love with him. The son helped his mother with her jacket, helped her sit down and they sat and talked as they ate. When they were done, he helped her up, put her jacket on and helped her out the door. Maybe God opened up my eyes to that because I will never have it. I may never have it, but I appreciated that occasion. In that instant I knew, it didn’t matter how perfect that Mother was, or how clean her house was, or how she spent time with her son- he loved her, unconditionally, just the way she was. 

The words took on a form to prepare my kids for the day I wouldn’t be around. Someday, I will die, we all will die. Hopefully, God will grant me a miracle and let me stay around for another 50 years, but if not I am okay with that. I am learning to trust that whatever may come to be will be. I appreciate more of motherhood than ever before because of this. I always feared I wasn’t perfect enough, but I am perfect. I am perfectly imperfect. And that is okay with God, and it’s okay with my kids . . . and it’s okay with me.

Keeping My Eyes Above the Waves

It’s been a crazy past two months. Steve had his surgery in late November and did great. It was really nice having him home for the holidays. I spent the month of December focusing a lot on the kids. Stephen turned 5 and we had a big party for him. Followed it with tons of Christmas activities and prepping. We had a superbly blessed Christmas. I was in awe over the twinkle in each of my children’s eyes for the magic the time of year brings. Everything was made good again. My marriage and motherhood seemed stronger than it has been in years. 

January brings up many emotions for me. Not only was Stephen scheduled for surgery but I had my first mammogram and breast ultrasound in January- my biopsy, my diagnosis; it’s also the birthday of a daughter who is no longerwith me, and her “angelversary”, along with memories of her funeral and burial . . . oh,  and it’s mine and Steve’s birthday. That’s a whole lotta crap to deal with in one month.

Stephen’s surgery went great. He was hospitalized for a couple days and discharged home. He healed up quick and has been doing great after his liquid-only diet. He is now on soft foods now and can have solids again in a month. We have been very busy with genetic appointments and follow up appointments with him. He has many tests and more appointments in the spring.

I had my scans at the beginning of the month as well. Everything was stable- no regression and no progression. I do have some gallstones, which could be drug induced, and may need my gallbladder out if I have another attack. The compression fracture in my back is possibly pinching a nerve down to my foot and makes it hard to walk. I am loading up on more medication to help with that. Since putting me back on chemo wouldn’t really do much of anything, I am still able to continue my break from chemo- it’s been one year and I love it. I go every couple weeks for my maintenance infusions, which help keeps my cancer at bay. I still deal with the perfuse swelling of my optic nerve as well and will follow up with that doc soon. I am going to be getting another port and have been working with the dermatologist to help rid my body of any staph that may have been lingering after my repeated infections. I feel okay though. I definitely am still not how I used to be, but, I am slowing accepting the fact that I won’t ever be that go-get-it person again.

It’s been 2 years since I was diagnosed. The average survival rate for a woman my age with advanced breast cancer is 18-24 months, and a less than 15% chance of surviving 5 years. I am officially on borrowed time. I am happy to be around another year and yet absolutely scared shitless to see what the next year may bring.

I’ve been asked before if I am “over” different things. Am I “over” the death of my daughter, “over my diagnosis”, am I moving on from grief and cancer? Honestly, no, I am not over or moving on from anything. I am living through it. I have been living through it since she died and since I was diagnosed. There’s no other way. 11 other months out of the year I am fine. I can do okay; my grief isn’t raw, it doesn’t consume me, but it still lives within me. And when January comes, I cannot help but suffer through those moments all over again. January makes me question so much. I cannot understand why I was chosen to walk this path.

It comes down to one thing: trust. Do I trust in God enough to know that all things will work out for the good? Can I trust that I don’t have to worry, just pray? I won’t lie, when the ocean’s rise, it’s hard for me to keep my eyes above the waves and focus on Christ. But the minute I take my eyes off of Him, I sink. I try though, I try so hard. I get so shaken, and I feel so worn. I try to make sense of it all. There has to be a reason, after all. At least that’s what everyone always tells me. There’s a reason it happened, and only the Lord knows; but I want to know why. I can hear Him telling me to just trust and not rely on my understanding; to stop trying to figure out the chaos. He reminds me I have strong roots, the waves and wind won’t break me. Sometimes I hear loud and clear, and it’s a great feeling, but sometimes I can’t help but doubt the plans. And you wouldn’t know what that’s like unless you have walked in my shoes and have experienced these kinds of tragedies. You have no idea how I pray for peace so that my faith doesn’t have to suffer or have an ounce of doubt. It’s so damned hard some days . . .

I turn 31 today. I’m here another year. I am extremely thankful to be here still. My next year I plan on fixing my eyes on my relationship with Christ, loving on my hubby, spoiling my babies and crossing some things from my mommy bucketlist. I won't get over anything, I'll continue working through it.

Belle Vernon Mom and Breast Cancer Survivor Recognized with National Award

Belle Vernon Mom and Breast Cancer Survivor Recognized with National Award 

Kate Crawford is one of eight women named as a 2014 Pink Power Mom

ATLANTA, (Oct.1, 2014) – The Kids II Foundation’s Pink Power Mom network has named

Kate Crawford as a 2014 Pink Power Mom. Joining seven other moms and breast cancer

survivors from the United States and Canada, Crawford was selected for persevering through her

battle with breast cancer and for her efforts to help others in their fights. All eight Pink Power

Mom honorees have worked to positively impact their local communities by using their breast

cancer fight as a catalyst to make a difference.

Crawford lost her first daughter when she was only three days old. This prompted her to start a

non-profit to help grieving parents. Following that heartache, she had twins (now five) and a son

(now four).  In 2013, Crawford was diagnosed with breast cancer and was only given a 30

percent chance of survival. Since then, she has poured her energy into raising funds for her

cancer center, fighting her disease and completing her “mommy bucket list.” Her blog, The

Chronicles of Cancer, is read and respected in the worldwide cancer community.

“Kate was selected because of her insight and immediate outreach to address a community need,

while just beginning her own journey with breast cancer,” said Heidi Floyd, Pink Power Mom

Executive Director. “The network’s pay-it-forward award will empower Kate to continue her

wonderful mission.”

The Pink Power Mom award includes a $5000 donation to the winner’s charity of choice. Kate’s

donation will benefit the Women’s Cancer Research Center at Magee-Womens Research

Institute and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. The Women’s Cancer Research

Program is dedicated to reducing the incidence and death from women’s cancers across the

world. This mission is achieved through the development and fostering of vibrant basic,

translational and clinical research aimed at translating novel discoveries into improved patient

care.

"I am honored to be chosen as part of an elite group of women dedicated to breast cancer

research and support. I may have cancer, but it will never stop me from feverishly working on

raising funds to find a cure,” Kate Crawford said.

Crawford will be honored with all eight of the 2014 Pink Power Moms during the Pink &

Powerful weekend celebration in Atlanta, Ga., hosted by Kids II, in February of 2015.

Nominations to join the Pink Power Mom network begin on Mother’s Day every year. Selected

moms are announced every October, during Breast Cancer Awareness month. For more

information, visit pinkpowermom.org or KidsII.com

About the Kids II Foundation

The Kids II Foundation was established by Kids II in 2006 to advance the company’s

commitment and passion to making a difference in the communities in which employees work

and live.  Through partnerships with charitable organizations, volunteer efforts and donating toys

to children in need, the Kids II Foundation is able to make a profound and lasting positive impact

in the lives of children and their families.  The Kids II Foundation donates over a quarter of a

million dollars annually to charities worldwide, including Pink Power Mom – a non-profit

created by the Foundation to make a global change in the cancer community by rewarding moms

and breast cancer survivors making a difference.

About Kids II, Inc.

Kids II has a 40-year history of developing industry-changing innovations for families across the

globe and has quickly becoming a world-leading baby and infant product company. The brand

portfolio strength runs deep with seven brands under the Kids II umbrella: Bright StartsTM,

IngenuityTM, Comfort & HarmonyTM, DisneyTMBaby EinsteinTM, OballTM and TaggiesTM. Through

its brands, Kids II is a powerhouse of creativity, diversity and innovation, uniquely matching the

individual needs of every parent and baby. Headquartered in Atlanta, Kids II spans globally with

13 global offices in six continents serving customers in more than 72 countries.

Learn more about Kids II, like our Facebook page, or connect with us on LinkedIn.

###

Rostraver mom continues to set goals despite battle with cancer

Jim Ference | Trib Total Media

Kate Crawford gets a hug from her kids Stephen 4, Lily 6, and Grace 6, on Tuesday, October 14, 2014 as they look over pictures of a kick ball tournament that was held on her behalf.

By: Chris Buckley
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014, 12:56 a.m.

 

Kate Crawford's bucket list is filled with hopes and dreams, things she wants to accomplish in the time she has left with her family.

But her greatest dream is to find a cure for the cancer that has grown in her.

The Rostraver woman created her bucket list after being diagnosed last year with stage IV breast cancer.

“The bucket list is not necessarily for me,” Crawford said. “That's why I dubbed it the ‘Mommy Bucket List.'”

She and her husband, Stephen, have twin daughters, Grace and Lily, 6, and a son, Stephen, 4.

Last October, Crawford operated a lemonade stand at her home, raising $5,000 for the Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation and the UPMC CancerCenter.

“The little things most parents wouldn't think of are very important to me, like having a lemonade stand or seeing a child get an A on a test,” Crawford said.

“The things most people take for granted are my hopes and dreams.”

This year, her fundraising goal for the lemonade stand was $10,000.

The Kids II Foundation recently named Crawford a Pink Power Mom, one of eight women worldwide recognized for their efforts in breast cancer outreach and fundraising.

The award carries a $5,000 donation to the breast cancer association of Crawford's choice.

In February, Crawford will travel to Atlanta for the Kids II Foundation gala fundraiser.

“I'm looking forward to the gala and looking forward to being a mentor and growing with them,” Crawford said.

CRUSADE CONTINUES

Crawford hosted two other fundraisers this month.

On Oct. 3, a Paint and Sip event at Off the Wall Arts in Charleroi generated more than $2,500.

Last weekend, she sponsored a kickball tournament that raised nearly $2,000.

Ten teams played in the double-elimination tournament at the John DiVirgilio Sports Complex in Rostraver.

Township officials donated use of the field, and the Belle Vernon Youth Soccer Association donated use of the concession stand, including food.

By month's end, her efforts will have generated $25,000.

Diagnosed in January 2013, Crawford learned the severity of her cancer the following month.

Statistically, the median survival rate for stage IV breast cancer is two to three years, Crawford said.

“There is no cure for breast cancer, so helping to aid those efforts literally means saving my own life,” Crawford said.

Crawford has persevered despite many obstacles. She underwent active chemotherapy last year, but the doctors gave her a break in that treatment after her condition stabilized.

She now receives targeted chemotherapy every three weeks.

“It just keeps my cancer at bay,” Crawford said.

As the cancer spread to her spine and pelvis, Crawford had problems walking. So she undewent daily radiation therapy for two weeks. Radiation helps alleviate some pain by shrinking tumors, especially in her pelvis.

“Now I go weekly for physical therapy,” Crawford said. “Since starting physical therapy, I've been feeling great.”

Hair loss is often a side effect of chemotherapy.

Her hair has grown back, but “I would rather be told I have no cancer,” Crawford said.

POSITIVE OUTLOOK

“My kids and my husband are the ones who keep me going,” Crawford said.

The bucket list provides incentives.

“Every month, we work toward checking it off,” Crawford said. “I'm looking forward to being a (Pink Power) Mom and doing what I have to do to find a cure.”

The award solidifies Crawford's role as an inspiration to others.

“It makes me blush,” Crawford said. “I want to inspire people with my story. I want them to know that no matter how hard things get it will be OK,” Crawford said.

THE LIST REMAINS

In January, Crawford's son will undergo palate reconstruction involving the roof of his mouth. That will be followed by therapy to reteach him how to speak.

“No matter what happens, I know everything is going be OK,” Crawford said.

Some bucket list items were simple, others sentimental. She hoped to see her children attend a prom, which happened last year with the help of Belle Vernon Area School District officials. Some items are dreams, such as taking her family to New York for an extravagant vacation – or curing cancer.

“When I wrote up the bucket list, the whole Mommy Bucket List, I knew half of it was unattainable,” Crawford said. “They are dreams, but right now dreaming is pretty awesome to me.

“Even if I can't cure cancer in my lifetime, maybe my kids will look at that list and say, ‘This is something Mommy wanted' and complete them.”

Chris Buckley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-684-2642 orcbuckley@tribweb.com.

Read more:http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmonvalley/yourmonvalleymore/6961840-74/crawford-cancer-list#ixzz3HjoCUhp6 
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Understanding . . . Life.

Our lives are made up of events. Each moment in our history has impacted who we are today, some insignificant and unknowingly and some monumental and memorable. We never truly realize at that instance the impact that those events will have on our future selves.

I have no idea how I ended up in the series of unfortunate events that have plagued me through my 20’s. I stopped wondering “Why” a while ago. I can’t figure it out, it makes no sense; and I realized the chaos in the question was just never meant to be answered. The events of the past two weeks, have left me withered and feeling defeated.

Monday had just started out bad. My Mom became sick and couldn't watch Stephen so I could go to meet with the Radiation Oncologist. She sent my Dad over, which was great, but, it left me to finish getting the girls ready for school by myself instead of being able to rely on her to finish up. I was running late to get there. I hate being late.

I am not sure where the lines of communication get mixed up. Different doctors interpret scans in unique ways. They type reports differently and then there are the doctors that read the reports to their patients who analyze the results in different ways. That leaves the patients with a small portion of the actual results. It’s frustrating. It’s infuriating and there’s not a damned thing you can really do about it unless you are staring at the actual scan. I never asked for a copy of my scans, and never really had a doctor sit down and show me what my scan looks like. That is, until Monday. Monday I sat down with the Radiation Oncologist and he showed me the screen of my pelvic MRI. The arrows pointed all over my pelvis to black dots. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight- I lost count. My pelvis is covered in cancer. I never realized or was told how many lesions are in my pelvis. And just because it’s news to me doesn't necessarily mean it is news to anyone else. It’s like playing telephone and unfortunately I am at the last person to hear so it is a bit garbled up by the time it reaches me. He explained that the lesions in my upper pelvis, left to right, are small, but seem to be causing me the most pain. As you move down my pelvis, they get larger. The ones along the bottom of my pelvis are triple the size of the ones along the top. Apparently, in not-so-technical radiation terms, your body is split into different sections. You can only have one portion of your body radiated at one time. Your pelvis is usually split into two sections. He wasn't sure if he would be able to radiate my pelvis in one round (one round equals 10 sessions, 5 days a week for 2 weeks) or if it had to be done in two. I was to report back the following day to have a special X-ray scan and a CT scan to measure my pelvis and then come up with a treatment plan . . . a palliative treatment plan. Not one meant to cure, just one meant to help improve the quality of my life. 

I wasn't expecting to get a call that my sister and Dad had called an ambulance for my Mom. She was rushed to the hospital for pretty severe symptoms. I am pretty sure I had a mental breakdown later that day, one of many to come over the course of the week. I was on the treadmill walking and I looked out the window, only, I was back in the hospital. I was on the hospital bed, just staring out the window. The doctor was sitting in a chair across from me telling me how they found cancer all over my body. I looked at her, in shock, and just asked “Am I going to die?” My very existence on this planet was immediately threatened and I could no longer see my future, I couldn't see my kids growing up, I couldn't see me growing old with my husband. I saw black, I saw nothingness. I cried, like I have never cried before. I wasn't at the hospital anymore; I was home, back on the treadmill and crying. My life is still threatened. It doesn't move forward, I am stuck here, in Cancerland. I feel like I am stuck in jail. The whole world moves on with their lives. Friends are getting new jobs, new opportunities, finishing school; they are buying houses, having more babies, and I am here. Just doing what I need to do to live yet feeling like I am not getting to truly live my life. I am stuck with the mundane activities of a terminal cancer patient. You know, just doing what I can to improve the quality and time span of my life. I’m only 30. Sheesh.

Then it just spirals out of control. I go back the next day for the scans and lay on this table. For. 45. Minutes.

Me. On this table. For 45 minutes. This table is flat and not cushioned- I cannot lay flat. It shoots pains in my hip down my leg. I swallow hard and breathe heavy but the pain overwhelms me. Just when I think I cannot lay there another second, the test is done. I don’t think the tech realized how disabled I actually was laying there. See, I put on a good front and everyone sees it because everyone tells me. I hear “If you didn't tell me you had cancer, I wouldn't have known.” or “You don’t look sick” and the ever famous “But you look great!” Well, I am not sure how a person with cancer is supposed to look? Skinnier maybe? Not happening. Tired? I wear makeup. Groaning in pain? Not a chance. It’s called sucking it up, and that kids is what I do best. So I try to sit up, and I physically cannot. I make a little noise and the tech comes over to help me. I cannot even sit up myself so here he is actually lifting me, dead-weight, to sit up and I just start screaming and crying. The pain is unbearable. And it only got worse as I went for the other scan. I should have brought someone with me. Augh, stupid, stubborn me. They told me they would call me in 2-3 days with a treatment plan. I’ll officially start radiation next week. Side effects include but are not limited to: skin irritation on the area, vomiting, diarrhea, trouble urinating, fatigue and a couple other fun not-gonna-mention stuff. You’re jealous, aren't you?

The news on my Mom wasn't looking great. Not dead bad, but like need surgery bad. So it’s up to me and my other sister to make sure my Dad has food, and their dog is taken care of, and someone visits Mom and make sure Dad doesn't go ballistic on a nurse. The stress was mounting and absolutely no one, and I mean no one could understand. Not even the closest of friends could grasp how hard life is to juggle when shit literally hits the roof. I've gotten the most slack from people over my lack of ability to returns calls and texts, to get on Facebook every minute of every day, hang out or go out. I know for a fact that each one of my friends at one point or another has gotten annoyed with me over this. So, let’s add in that to this mountain of crap and I was headed straight for a mental ward. I’m not exactly sure what everyone wants from me? I am trying my best here. I am trying to not die while raising three little kids, be a wife, a daughter, a sister, an Aunt and a friend. Contrary to popular belief, it really isn't as simple as it seems.

Remember those events I talked about? A simple comment of an Instagram picture of mine flashed me back to my childhood. I was where I loved to be: the softball field. Nothing else in the world can touch me, can bother, or interrupt me. It’s just me and the game. It smelled of spring, the warm sun on my skin, my adrenaline rushing just waiting for that line drive to come straight to my glove. It’s one of those times, however oddly inconsequential it may appear, is one that molded me to the person I am today. The innocence of that little girl is something I will never have back, but her sheer persistence, ingenuity and dedication is what followed me all through these many years later. And it was in this moment that I realized that no matter what is thrown my way, I got it.

My Mom was released from the hospital this weekend and really needs to start taking better care of herself (MOTHER! I KNOW YOU ARE READING THIS) or she will end up back in the hospital and next time it will probably require surgery. I will figure out the next weeks of my life with the same fortitude I learned playing softball. Radiation won’t be easy but it will help me, and even though I may not be able to buy a house, have more babies and start a new business, I will be able to move around easier and not have pain while checking things off of my Mommy Bucket List. And that is pretty much all I can ask for.  

Cancer Stricken Mom Working On Bucket List

April 26, 2013 2:22 PM


Watch the video: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/04/26/cancer-striken-mom-working-on-bucket-list/

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Photo Credit: KDKA

Reporting Sarah Arbogast

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Health, Local, News,Syndicated Local

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Belle Vernon, Bubba, Bucket List, cancer, Chemo,Chemotherapy, Kate Crawford, Sarah Arbogast,STAR 100.7

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A Belle Vernon woman is in the fight of her life, but you would never know it.

Kate Crawford is positive, optimistic, and upbeat despite battling Stage IV cancer.

Crawford was diagnosed with breast canceron January 25th. Within two weeks, she found out that the cancer had spread all over her body.

“The scans revealed that I was stage IV and that it had spread to both breasts, in my shoulder, down my ribs, in my liver, down my thoracic spine and into my pelvis,” said Crawford.

Crawford immediately started Chemotherapy treatments and came up with a “mommy bucket list.”

“I wanted to be able to record everything that I wanted to do and if I don’t get done with the list, at least they can look at it and they can know what dreams I had for them when I was a youngmom,” said Crawford.

One item on Crawford’s list was meeting Bubba, morning radio show host for Star 100.7. Friday morning, Crawford was able to cross that item off her list. She joined Bubba on the air to share her story.

“I’ve always been a listener and I love your show and you make me laugh so hard, on the way to chemo every Thursday, that is what we listen to,” said Crawford.

Bubba, almost speechless, says he was humbled to be on Crawford’s list.

“Hopefully we can look back at this bucket list and say oh my, I really never needed that, that would be the best,” said Bubba.

Crawford is asking others to help her with her bucket list. If you’d like to see it, click here.

If you’d like to follow her battle with cancer, you can click here.

Charity founder diagnosed with cancer hangs tough with New Kids on the Block

Kate Crawford, 29, meets childhood crushes before concert at Consol Energy Center Charity founder diagnosed with cancer hangs tough with NKOTB

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PITTSBURGH —The New Kids on the Block may sing about hangin' tough, but Kate Crawford lives it every day.

• KATE CRAWFORD

  

  Kate Crawford

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  The annual Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure in Schenley Park raises money for breast cancer education, screening and treatment initiatives.

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• CHARITY FOUNDER, 29, FIGHTS STAGE 4 BREAST CANCER

  

  Kate Crawford founded Project Sweet Peas four years ago to help families with critically ill children. Now she is in the fight of her life with a very aggressive form of breast cancer.

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• MOTHER DEDICATED TO HELPING FAMILIES BRAVES CANCER DIAGNOSIS

  

  Kate Crawford turned her family's loss into a way to help others, but now the 29-year-old mother is taking a leave from Project Sweet Peas to face her own cancer diagnosis.

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The 29-year-old mother of three and founder of Project Sweet Peas charity was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in February.

The cancer has spread throughout her body, and doctors have given her less than a five percent chance of being cured.

"I don't think enough people really do think about the end," she told Channel 4 Action News' Andrew Del Greco.

So, Crawford is living in the now and embarking on her own "bucket list" of sorts.

One of the items on the list: meeting the New Kids on the Block. She got to do just that before their concert at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday night.

"When you're a little girl and have your little first crush on a celebrity, you'll never imagine you'll meet them one day," Crawford said.

She even got to ask the guys what's on their bucket lists. Some of their answers included flying an airplane and graduating from college.

Next up for Crawford is her family's first trip to Disney World. On Thursday, she'll begin her fifth round of chemotherapy.

"I think the most important thing is to be happy, have goals and aspirations and try to follow them through," she said. "No matter what obstacle gets in your way, you can still have a smile on your face and be happy."

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