In the weeks leading up to the Pink Arrow game on September 22, 2023, we will be sharing stories from Pink Arrow Pride. Don’t forget to mark your calendar for Community Day on September 7, 2023 when you can purchase your Pink Arrow XVI shirt at the Bob Perry Stadium at Lowell High School.
Hello, my name is Joe Wierzbicki and I would like to tell you about my wonderful wife, Cyndie.
Cyndie and I have known each other since High School, growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We didn’t start dating until I was a senior and she was a freshmen at Ferris State University. We married on June 30th, 1984, after Cyndie graduated from Dental Hygiene. I had been working and living in Grand Rapids since my graduation in 1982.
After our wedding, Cyndie moved into the apartment I was renting and started looking for employment. Her first dental hygiene job landed us in Hastings, Michigan, for a few years, until we wanted to get closer to Grand Rapids, where I was working. That move started a 28-year Dental Hygiene career and us buying our first house in Lowell; the year was 1986. One of the many things I love about my wife is she aways gives 110% to anything she does. Cyndie’s career, or should I say her patients, became a huge part of her life. She bonded with them and them with her. Cyndie remembers all their names, sometimes three generations, all their stories, and many of them became friends.
In December 1991, our daughter, Courtney, was born. In 1993, we purchased our present home in Lowell, and in February of 1995 our son Kyle was born. Our lives could not have been any better. Around 2009, I received a call from Cyndie saying she was not feeling well and thought she maybe having a stroke. At the emergency room all kinds of tests were run including an MRI. We were told that nothing was found and the symptoms she had experienced were most likely due to stress.
Not right away, but a few years after this episode, Cyndie and I noticed it was becoming harder for her to stay on task. This was causing problems at work and at home. Because things were taking longer to accomplish, she many times went without sleep. She started seeing a doctor about the problems. It was determined she probably had some kind of attention-deficit disorder and was referred to a psychologist.
This went on for a few years, and her symptoms kept getting worst. This was causing more stress at work, to the point, it was decided she should leave and look for a new job. Other jobs came and went, all were very difficult for her. It was becoming harder for her to focus and get her work done. During this time Cyndie had been seen by the psychologist and our doctor; they had performed many tests but all centering around some kind of psychological problem. None of them showed any type of problem. At the time Covid came about, Cyndie was taking jobs substituting for sick or vacationing hygienists. In February of 2021, Cyndie could not take it anymore and went back to the doctor and insisted there is something more going on than just a psychological problem. The doctor ordered an MRI for her, and this is where our cancer story begins.
In February 2021, Cyndie was scheduled for an MRI at 11 p.m. I did not go, thinking this would be another test that would tell us nothing. Just after midnight, I got a call from Cyndie saying they had found a large cancerous brain tumor and were taking her for more testing. I got dressed and headed for the hospital. Within two days, we were meeting with a neurosurgeon and Cyndie’s case went in front of the Tumor Board. We were told the tumor could be one of two types, Glioblastoma (very bad) or Oligodendroglioma. They would need to do a biopsy before they could tell which type Cyndie had. They did tell us the cancer had started in the brain and had not spread to other parts of the body. When you are fighting cancer, you take the wins any way they come.
The biopsy took place at the end of February 2021. When the neurosurgeon met with me after the biopsy, he told me the Tumor Board could see the start of the tumor on the MRI taken in 2009. Somehow, it was not spotted at that time, and now, 11 years later, was the size of an orange. While waiting for the biopsy results, Cyndie went through many tests in preparation for the surgery. The biopsy results came back, and it was an Oligodendroglioma grade-2 tumor. Two more wins for us.
We were told this type of cancer is not curable but is very slow growing, obviously, since it was there in 2009. The surgery took place in the first part of March and took about three hours. Since we were in Covid lockdown, I was the only person that could go into the hospital. The neurosurgeon told me after the surgery that he was able to remove about 95% of the tumor. One more win for us.
Cyndie recovered very nicely and was home in 3 days. She did not experience any speech or mobility loss that could happen with a tumor in the left frontal lobe. The left frontal lobe was the worst place for the tumor to be because it controls so much of your personality and emotional functioning. One loss for us.
Cyndie was allowed to recover for 6 weeks before starting chemotherapy and radiation. At this point, we were turned over to a Cancer Oncologist for the rest of Cyndie’s treatment. About this time, Cyndie started acting very odd, and on a routine visit to the Radiologist, found her blood sugar was in the 400’s. This was being caused by steroids given to keep the brain swelling down. Cyndie started a diabetic protocol to get her sugar under control.
Radiation and Chemotherapy both went well. Chemotherapy was given orally at home and radiation was given in Grand Rapids, which Cyndie was able to drive herself to. On a follow-up visit to our neurosurgeon, we were informed that an Oncologist was moving to Grand Rapids in November of 2021, who specialized in brain cancer, and it would be in our best interest to transfer to her when she became available.
After radiation we started to notice a decline of Cyndie’s cognitive skills. She was losing short-term memory, motivation, patience, and focus, more than ever before. We were told this was due to the radiation and could go on for up to a year. We were also told this would not come back. Cyndie could no longer drive at this point and found it impossible to focus longer than a few minutes on a task. We started going to Mary Free Bed for physical, speech, occupational, and psychological therapy.
In November we started to see our new Oncologist. She informed us of a study showing that if chemotherapy is given after radiation, life expectancy could double. In November of 2021, we started oral chemotherapy that lasted until November of 2022.
During all this, our Church, family, friends, community, and Cyndie’s patients have been a great support with meals, cards, gifts, and most of all, prayers. One of our many doctors, along the way, suggested we contact Gilda’s Club. Of course, I didn’t, thinking we can do this ourselves. About the third visit, she asked again if I had contacted Gilda’s Club. I told her no and she informed me that there is not a lot more she could do for Cyndie, if I was not going to listen to her instructions. I went right home and contacted Gilda’s Club in Lowell.
The people were so nice when I called; Cyndie and I attended our first meeting in November and have not missed a meeting since. The Gilda’s Club experience has been unbelievable, we have met so many wonderful people. The staff and the people you meet in a group become cheerleaders for each other. You can’t wait to get back to group to see how someone’s MRI or oncologist visit went. In group, we are all somewhere on the cancer journey, as a patient or as a support person to them.
The Pink Arrow Pride has been so helpful to us also, with resources donated by the caring people of Lowell. Cyndie and I have attended many Pink Arrow games, never thinking someday we would be on the receiving end of their generosity and hard work. We are still on our cancer journey, and we do not know where it may lead us. Cyndie has an MRI every three months to see what the cancer is doing. What I do know is, you don’t need to walk this journey alone. The Lowell community is here to walk beside you every step of the way.
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