2 weeks later...

It’s been two weeks since I’ve posted an update, so here’s what’s been going on…

On Saturday, November 10th, Joshua and his cousin, Aldofo, went to Plaza Hildago where Aldofo had heard that an organization called PUSH was giving out brand-new wheelchairs, walkers, and other medical equipment for free in front of the church to those in need. They brought a letter from my doctor explaining the disease I had and why I needed a wheelchair. They were given a ticket and told to return later in the day to see if I qualified to receive a wheelchair. Luckily, I was one of the fortunate winners.

On Saturday, I also had a great, but painful physical therapy treatment. My therapist, Oscar, identified the areas on my legs and feet where I need the most help (and that are causing the most pain) and has been focusing on those areas in my treatments. I am unable to flex my feet at this time because the nerves that control that part of my legs haven’t woken up yet and rebuilt the connections to my brain when I tell them to move. Because of that, my calf muscles tighten up every few hours since they aren’t being used, which is very painful. Oscar showed my family how to help stretch my calves by pointing and flexing and moving my feet left to right. It also helps to separately massage my calves, shins, and the area on the top of my feet where the nerves collect. Joshua and my parents now help me do this several times a day to help lessen the pain.

Oscar is an incredible physical therapist and I’m lucky to have found him. He has treated several other patients with this disease and is determined that I will be walking within 2 to 3 months instead of the typical 6 months or more. I work with him every day for an hour and over these past two weeks, I have made several strides.

When I left the hospital, I could only move my feet left to right and point them slightly, but not flex them. I also had weak movement in my lower legs, arms, upper body, and hands. The rest of my body was numb – upper thighs, hips, stomach, back, hands, feet, and face (no movement other than being able to talk funny). Also, I couldn’t feel my bladder and my intestines moved very slowly, which is why I am still on a catheter and on a strict diet until those nerves wake up.

Since I’ve been home from the hospital, Oscar has helped me regain feeling and movement in my knees, thighs, hamstrings, hips, and butt. My feet move left to right with more distance, I can point my toes more and slightly flex them, too. I am working on lifting my legs still and can lift my right knee and lower leg about a ½ inch or so from the bed. My left leg and knee can lift about an inch and extensions in both legs improve every day. I have regained some strength in my thighs again and exercise them by having someone bend my knee up and hold my foot while I slowly move my knee left to right. Oscar comes up with new exercises every day and my strength increases.

Since I am on the computer every day, I exercise my fingers from all of the typing I do, but I still have to stretch them and bend each joint separately throughout the day because they get stiff. My arms, chest, and shoulder muscles didn’t lose much strength so they are recovering more rapidly than the rest of my body.

My face muscles are the slowest to recover. I have daily ultrasound treatments to help stimulate the circulation and nerves (it feels like a facial). Oscar also massages my face and does exercises to help wake up the nerves. I can slightly move my eyebrows, but nothing else has started moving yet.

I also have a night nurse now, Filiberto, who is very experienced – I feel like he is a knowledgeable as my doctor. He has treated patients with GBS, as well, so I get a second dose of physical therapy every evening before I go to bed. Filiberto doesn’t speak a lot of English, but he’s teaching me some Spanish and I am, in return, trying to teach him some English. In the meantime, he understands my broken Spanish and gestures well enough to know what I need help with. He is also determined to help me start walking again as soon as possible.

My doctor, Dr. Peña, makes house calls about every other day to check on me. The catheter that I had in my neck for the plasmapheresis treatments was taken out about a week after I was home. Dr. Peña was worried about a possible infection, so it was removed to avoid that. He thinks that I am improving well.

On another note, Xavier has started attending Diactics daycare, which he absolutely loves. Someone was kind enough to donate several months of care to us so that we would have someone to watch him for part of the day while I focus on physical therapy and Joshua can work. My parents also get a break from a very active 1 year old. Xavier loves being around other kids, so the daycare is perfect for him to get some social activity.

Everyone can agree that my recovery is going well, but we are just taking it day by day. Three months seems so far away and I cannot wait to get out of this bed, but am trying to work hard with my therapy and be patient. I am in a lot of pain every day as more nerves wake up and I also experience muscle pain from the therapy. I’m trying my best to stay positive knowing that the next day there will be less pain and I will soon be pain free and back to my normal self, but some days are harder than others. This disease has turned my whole world upside down in every way possible!

I am very grateful for Joshua and my parents who are taking care of me, Xavier, and everything else in my life that I am unable to do at the moment. More times than not, they are exhausted and in bed by 8 or 9 PM. They also get a little stir crazy (like me) and yearn to get out of the house even if it’s just to run an errand. I don’t blame them one bit.

Anyhow, I will try to keep posting information about the progress I make or just to relay some thoughts or experiences. 

Thank you to those who have made donations. It’s helping us to pay for the nurses’ care, physical therapy, medicine, and hospital bills. I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

YPO Happy Hour

As previously mentioned, this month's YPO Happy Hour will be in support of Tracy and family. Event details are as follows:

El Dorado
November 27, 2012
7:00 pm

There will be a donation jar, a 50/50 raffle, and Provecho will be there selling their decks and donating $50 pesos from each one sold.

2 x 1 National Drinks
30 peso Pacifico

Come out, have a good time, and help a friend in need.

**It seems the donation link was not working on this page for a few days but it is back up and running so if you're feeling jolly please open your hearts and wallets and make a donation. :)**

Thanks again to everyone for your continued support.

Finally home!

Now that the treatments are over and the pain has subsided a little, I will start to contribute to the blog myself.

I received my last plasmapheresis treatment on Wednesday, November 7th and it was slightly different from the previous ones.  I received a new medicine in addition to the plasma and had to sign a waiver prior to the treatment acknowledging the possibility of more serious side effects, which unfortunately I experienced.  The beginning of the treatment went well and I was prepared for the usual chills and shivers by starting the heating pad and asking for heated blankets from the dryer before everything started.  My nurse, Mari, was nice enough to heat a new blanket for me every 30 minutes, but luckily I wasn't as cold as before – that is, until the very last cycle, which was one of the most painful 20 minute cycles of all the treatments.  As soon as it was over, I was begging the nurse for pain medication, which I then needed more and more of the rest of the day.  I also developed a fever, rash, and rapid heartbeat.  At one point, I honestly didn't think I would feel well enough (or my vitals would be stable enough) to go home the next day since my pain level remained very high throughout the day and the entire night.  

Luckily, I felt better Thursday morning and the side effects of the last treatment were gone, although I still was in a lot of pain. I finally headed home after thanking the nurses and other staff members who helped me through the past 19 days that I was at San Javier Marina hospital.  I rode home in my first Mexican ambulance ride, which surprisingly went smoothly.  To be honest, I thought I was in for a crazy ride like most of the passengers on the taxis and buses experience here on a daily basis, but I felt pretty safe.

Joshua and my parents had prepared my room at home by renting a hospital bed and moving some furniture around.  They placed the bed so that I had a nice view of the blooming flowers in our back yard and could also see the downstairs living room and dining room areas with our bedroom doors opened.  When I arrived, Xavier stood up in his crib, which is in our room, and was so happy to see me.  He was clapping and laughing and yelling with excitement.  I was just as happy and excited to see him.  It was a nice welcoming home gift as we had spent most of the 19 days that I was in the hospital apart from one another.  Later that day, I had my family wheel my bed and his crib together so that we could see each other.  Although I didn't lose feeling in my arms, they are still weak and it’s hard for me to hold onto Xavier when he starts moving around suddenly when he is in my lap.  Anyone who has met my son knows how strong and wiggly he is. Of course, I want to hold him and cuddle with him as much as I can, but I need to regain more strength first.  He does, however, like to push the buttons on mommy’s bed to move it up and down.

Thursday, I spent the day resting, but I did my physical therapy exercises with my nurse, Erik. Erik and I had a little trouble communicating as his English and my Spanish speaking skills were lacking, but we managed.  While I understand a lot of Spanish, I still have difficulty speaking it.  So, I might be spending some of the next couple of months finally learning to speak Spanish since my physical therapist and nurses don't speak a lot of English.  I had a lot of pain during the night, which my doctors have said is normal since hormone levels change at night, but my Dad stayed up with me and helped me change positions in bed every 2 to 3 hours when I would wake up in pain. I was very grateful for him to help me.

My pain level on Friday was much less during the day (5 out of 10) as Erik showed my family how to massage my legs and feet whenever I felt pain.  He also said that I need to keep massaging my face to stimulate the nerves to reconnect.  We decided that having a nurse at night was probably better since that is when I need the most help dealing with my pain by treating it with massages, moving positions in bed, and needing shots of pain medication administered.  So, Friday night I met Yolanda (or Yoli), who was very helpful throughout the night.  She also didn’t speak a lot of English, but we were able to communicate well.  Despite her small size, she was very strong and able to move me back and forth on my sides throughout the night.

My physical therapy is now every day and I am working hard at regaining my strength and movement.  Most of my muscles are very tight since they haven’t moved in over 3 weeks.  I am surprised at the lack of flexibility as I used to practice yoga and had maintained that flexibility even though it’s been a while since I have practiced.  I hate to admit that I have been reluctant to attend a yoga class in Mexico since I’ve been afraid that I would look stupid when I didn’t understand when the teacher said “downward facing dog” or any other yoga positions in Spanish.  If you have seen the funny YouTube videos “Shit Gringas Say” versions 1 and 2, then you know that this is one of the stupid things that us gringas might say and think when we move to Mexico.  If you haven’t seen the videos, they are definitely worth watching.

Anyhow, back to the physical therapy – it’s going well, but painful as my muscles are stretched.  The first part of the treatment, the therapist puts electrical patches on different leg muscles and sends a pulsing electrical current to stimulate the muscles and nerves.  He also uses a special electrical device for waking up nerves in my face.  It feels like getting a facial every day as he also massages my face when he’s done.

I can tell that the therapy is working as I am seeing small improvements every day.  The right side of my body is worse off than the left, but I was told that while the disease worked from the “toes to the nose,” the recovery went in reverse.  My numbness started in my right foot so that will probably be the last part of my body to fully recover.

I’m trying to stay positive as I know that it is a biggest part of the healing process.  I am blessed to have so many family members and friends helping me by praying for me and sending me positive energy.  I also have friends sending me reiki through distance healing, which is something I also practice on myself when I am able to.  Most of all, I am very grateful for how much Joshua and my parents do for me on a daily basis as I am completely dependent on them for everything.  Being an independent person and used to doing things myself and for others, it was (and is still) hard making this transition, but I am thankful that they are here for me.

Tracy's mom, Josephine, has been keeping such a great record of Tracy's progress and been such an amazing support to her daughter. Here is the latest news as written by Josephine.

Tracy did very well with her plasmapheresis treatment yesterday.  She still had chills and BP went down but we had heating pads and blankets warm from the dryer ready for her. She did not have cold sweats either so recovery was quicker than all times before.

Gary flew in just after she finished treatment and the techs left, and she was very happy to see him. Josue had left in the early morning hours to take the bus to El Tigre to retrieve Xavier who had gotten sick with sore throat and fever while there. They had taken him to local doctor but we were concerned and with Gary being here thought we could handle it. We got him to a pediatrician this morning at the hospital and started him on 2 medicines by 11 am and he is resting comfortably here in Tracy's room.

Tracy gets her 8th treatment tomorrow and the plan is to release her on Thursday morning. The nurse who helped get Tracy her MRIs, etc. on that critical Saturday has helped us again by getting in touch with some medical equipment and personnel to help in the early days. They include a hospital bed, hydraulic lift to help get her in and out of bed, wheelchair, and nursing staff to help us with bathing and medications.

She had a physical therapy session again this afternoon. New exercises included ones for her facial paralysis, leg lifts while seated (her first ones were while laying down). She also had electrical stimulation to back and legs as well. She is in good spirits this afternoon. Gary and I are babysitting Xavier in her room while Josue attends class. We had to take him to the pediatrician this morning as he's been feverish and had a body rash. The doctor said he had a throat infection and prescribed 2 meds which it took 3 of us to administer. Thank goodness he needs it just once a day and has rested pretty comfortably in our arms all afternoon.

We realize that recovery will be long but are grateful for all the help of staff here and for all the love and support from family and friends. Tracy has a fighting spirit and is working hard to battle this terrible syndrome.

Provecho Vallarta comes to help!

Yesterday morning I received a phone call from one of the wonderful ladies of Provecho Vallarta, Michelle Mayer Fulfer. She called me to find out how Tracy was doing and to offer up an amazing offer which would donate funds to Tracy and Josue.

With the purchase of the 2013 deck which is now available for only $300 pesos, Provecho Vallarta will throw in the 2012 deck for free AND donate $50 to Tracy and Josue. To get this great offer and to support Tracy, all you have to do is to pick up your cards at Bang-On T-shirts (Avenida Mexico 1193) or email provechovallarta@gmail.com, let them know you want to purchase a deck in support of Tracy and they will get one to you!!!

For those of you have been living under a rock and aren't familiar with Provecho Vallarta yet, here is a little run down:

About Provecho

We have put together a deck of the BEST Puerto Vallarta has to offer... A Vallarta "It List", if we may be so bold. Provecho Vallarta is made up our favorite restaurants, spas, shops and businesses in town...the places we go to over and over again to the places we save for the most special occasions.

How it all goes down: It's Simple! Each Deck contains 52 Cards. Each card features one of our FANTASTIC merchant partners including a description of their business and all vital information. Each card represents a $100 MXP gift certificate off of a Minimum Purchase of $250 MXP (excluding tax and tip).

Each Deck retails for $300 MXP. Now that's a "Deck of a Deal"! A $5200 peso value for only 300 pesos. Three visits to any of these fabulous businesses and the deck has paid for itself. Who doesn't treat themselves at least 3 times a year?

 With such easy savings to be had this is also a must have item for tourists. And they also make great stocking stuffers. :)

 I can't express enough how much the support of caring business owners like those at Provecho Vallarta has and will aid Tracy and Josue. Thanks, PROVECHO!!!

Setbacks

There have been some setbacks which unfortunately have delayed Tracy's hospital release.

I'm going to play a bit of catch up with updating Tracy's condition. I had originally wrote yesterday's post on Tuesday night from the airport but I could not upload the photo until yesterday afternoon. During that day and a half span, a LOT has happened so I apologize lumped together updates.

For this post I am going to include the email I received from Tracy's mom, Josephine, yesterday. When I read the email it felt as though someone reached inside of me and was squeezing my heart with all their strength. It really made me think about the emotions that Tracy is going through being a mother and unable to share in the celebration of Xavier's first year of life, but it also made me think about Tracy's mom and how this must be for her. One thing I do know however is that a mother's love knows no bounds and that alone I'm sure will be a real guiding force in helping Tracy to recover. From her own personal determination to the fight that Josephine puts up on Tracy's behalf as well, she will get through this in time.

Josephine wrote:
Tracy had a setback during her 5th treatment of plasmapheresis. Blood pressure dropped way low 80/44 and she got cold sweats and shakes and then shooting pains down her leg bones and into ankles. She had 3 heavy blankets on her and hot water bottles made of latex gloves were used to warm her hands. She was in pain all day into the night and begged for morphine that they did not want to give because of blood pressure. The blankets did come off one by one over a few hours and the sweats went by late afternoon. She had little appetite and I really had to push jello and mashed potatoes and juice on her. She also required a few nebulizer treatments as she was a little congested and couldn't blow her nose. She also had to have catheter reinserted as she knew her bladder was full but couldn't use the muscles to expel.

She had a halfway decent night and today seems improved. She ate a good breakfast of milky oatmeal, banana, mango, and pears, jello and juice. She was able to do her leg, arm and breathing exercises with me providing the resistance. Tracy also got a shower and hair wash. Dr. Pena came in to see her in the shower and check for signs of marks that might lead to bed sores. She has a small one on her elbow and a 3 inch red mark under one arm that we need to watch. Tracy is dead weight to lift and trying to shift her in the bed or lounge chair often takes 3 people. I don't know how we will manage when we get her to the house. Gary is coming Monday but he will not be able to lift her and most of their guy friends already have bad backs. Lunch has just arrived so we'll see if she can eat some chicken soup and more jello!

Josue is leaving now to get a few things from home and to pick up his mom and Xavier at the bus stop. We will try to do a little celebrating this evening. Xavier is 1 year old today. Josue has his high school class at 4 with a test.  I know he will be distracted wanting to get back to see Xavier.

Keep us in your thoughts please. Tracy and I do a lot of praying. We've watched the You Tube videos on this syndrome and the recovery rehab and she knows it may be a long process. She can hardly manage 1 lb. weights.

Going home...

We have some good news to report, Today Tracy is going home! It is a little bitter sweet because today is also this sweet little guy's 1st Birthday but he is out of town with his Grandma (Josue's mom). He will be back in a couple days however and be very excited  to have mommy home. What better way to celebrate?!
Tracy is not only feeling much better these past days as well as eating better. Josue has been talking about how she still has her sense of humor too, all great signs! She will continue to go for her treatments every two days and will also do 1 hour of physiotherapy daily. There's no denying that Tracy has some hard work ahead of her.
Again, many thanks to all of you who have reached out to help in one way or another. Special thanks to Jillian & Anthony Rocchio, Margaret Stanley, Marisa Monaco, Joe Digiacomo and Greg for your donations which will go a long way in helping Tracy and Josue with medical bills.

Rough Day

Today was treatment day again for Tracy. Unfortunately this has not been a good day for her. Tracy is not feeling well at all, has lost control of her legs again and as if that wasn't enough, she also has a cold. All of this has her her doctors very worried because her body's defenses are low which makes fighting off more viruses/bacterias extremely difficult. With that in mind they are going to do an X-ray today and check for infection.We ask that you all pray and send your positive vibes to Tracy that the result is negative! The last thing any of us want is for Tracy to suffer more than she already has. Not only that but this has also made for an extremely tough day on Josue who tries to remain strong but can not bear seeing Tracy suffer, so let's keep him in our thoughts as well, he needs the emotional support!
Lastly a very special thank you to Barbara Curry and to Macy & Helen Hovland for reaching out and sending much needed and appreciated donations. 

Didactics Mi Primer Cole

This deserves a special post all of it's own!

I am so happy to announce that 'Didactics Mi Primer Cole' has gone above and beyond in their support of Tracy and is offering several months care for Xavier at NO COST!

For those who are not familiar with Didactics it is one of the most highly recommended pre-schools in Vallarta. The quality of care they provide along with all the fun activities is top notch. Their show of support in the community clearly can't be beat either!

Many thanks to Rosario and everyone at Didactics, your kindness knows no bounds!

For those of you looking for somewhere safe and fun for your children to go, you can contact the school as follows:

Tel: 52 322 225 4836
Address: Niza #269 Colonia Versalles, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

You can also find them on facebook!

Yesterday Tracy received her second treatment and will continue to receive one every two days. We are happy to report that she is responding well to these treatments. Tracy said that she is feeling a bit better as well as has gained some feeling back in her face already which is great news!

One of the things that Josue mentioned to me was how hard it was to see Xavier wanting to be held by his Mama but that she simply does not have the strength. One can only imagine how heartwrenching this is for Tracy as well. Here you can see Xavier trying to get his cuddles in with mommy and just how weak and exhausted Tracy is.



Tracy still can not stand or walk and will be out of commission even when she goes home which she hopes will be in about a weeks time. It will be a hard journey for them all but I know that Josue and Xavier will be thrilled to have Tracy home again.

With all of the treatments necessary and Tracy unable to work or keep up with Xavier we are calling out to everyone for assistance. It is always hard to ask for help and we don't want Tracy and Josue to even worry about doing so.

The Young Professionals Organization which is run by Lindsay Prime Mayer is in the works of planning their November meet-up where all funds raised will go towards supporting Tracy. As soon as the details are in order I will post that info and we hope to see you all there.

Other things we can do to help would include things such as childcare, meals, and of course monetary donations can go a long way in helping with the medicals bills. If you feel that you are able and would like to help with any of those things, please contact me and we will organize it or click "donate" on the sidebar.
For businesses that would like to offer services/assistance, as a thank you to you for your support we will also promote your establishment both on this webpage as well as the YPO page which has over 700 active members who rely heavily on member recommendations.

I know that Tracy and Josue appreciate all of your well wishes and send a big thank you out for that.

Thanks also to Lorrie Barclay Sandoval, Lindsay & Paul Mayer, Brandy Schwab and Jessica Ritchey who made very generous donations.

Tracy's story

It all started on Wednesday, October 17th when Tracy woke up. She had numbness in her right foot and toes. Thinking it was odd that it felt this way, she blew it off and figured it would go away. Later in the afternoon, she started having the same sensation and numbness in her left foot. By that evening, she was frustrated because she couldn’t get comfortable on the couch and kept switching positions while trying to watch TV. Giving up on watching her show, she went to bed and had a restless night with the same discomfort.

When she woke up on Thursday, she felt worse. Her entire back was in a lot of pain and now she had
numbness in her mouth, food tasted funny, and her hands were also numb. She had never had back
pain like this before and decided to locate a chiropractor to see if she could find relief. She visited
a chiropractor who adjusted her to realign her spine and pelvic bone. She talked to him about the
numbness in her hands, feet and mouth and he performed a neurological exam. He ruled out the
possibility of the problem being neurological and thought that he had located the problem.

Thursday night was another sleepness night and Tracy was in tears because of the pain. She considered going to the hospital because of the discomfort. She couldn’t eat, sleep or get comfortable no matter what she did. On Friday, it only got worse so her husband and a friend took her to the emergency room. The doctor on duty saw that her problem was neurological and called the neurologist. Unfortunately, she couldn’t see him until the next morning, so it was another night without sleep or comfort.

Saturday morning she saw Dr. Soto at the San Javier Marina hospital. He performed more tests and
ordered an MRI especially since her face was showing signs of paralysis and numbness now. With the
help of Pam Thompson-Webb, she was able to receive the MRI later that day rather than waiting until
Monday. When the test results returned – everything looked normal.

The doctor started thinking that it was Guillain Barre Syndrome, which is a disease that attacks the peripheral nervous system and is very rare, but dangerously serious if not treated. It begins with an infection from something as simple as a cold, (which Tracy had two weeks prior) followed by ascending paralysis starting in the hands and feet which travels towards the trunk of the body. It can cause life-threatening complications, in particular if the respiratory muscles are affected or if there is autonomic nervous system involvement.

Luckily, Dr. Soto was familiar with the signs of the disease and started conducting more tests including an electrolysis exam to examine the nerve reactions in her body. The results of this test confirmed that him and his colleague Dr. Peña's diagnosis was correct.

There are only two treatments available to cure this disease if caught early enough - intravenous
immunoglobulins or plasmapheresis. For the first treatment, Tracy decided to try the immunoglobulins
medicine since it was immediately available in the hospital, however, she was told that she needed 36
treatments, which would be very costly. So, on Sunday, she met with Dr. Raul Morales, who turned
out to be Tracy’s savior. Dr. Morales is one of the leading doctor’s in the research and development of
plasmapheresis treatments. His methods are world renowned and have the best results compared to
other treatments available. During this process, the blood is cleaned with a UV light from the antibodies
that are causing the deterioration of the peripheral nerves and replaced with clean antibodies when the blood is returned to her body. After one treatment, Tracy regained some feeling in her right foot and face. The doctors were amazed at the almost immediate results.

Tracy truly felt so grateful that she was able to find Dr. Morales in her home town of Puerto Vallarta. He has had patients fly from all over the world to Puerto Vallarta to receive his treatments and here he was in the right place at the right time to help her. Dr. Morales told Tracy that they had started treating her disease at just the right time since her central nervous system was continuing to deteriorate and travel up her body. It becomes very serious if it starts attacking the upper chest area where the heart and lungs are located.

At this time Tracy is scheduled to receive 8 treatments from Dr. Morales, her next being on Thursday, Oct 25th. Her entire body is very weak and she cannot stand up, walk or move without assistance. After the treatments are finished, she will continue to be monitored to ensure the disease is cured. If more treatments are required, she will receive them. She will also require physical therapy for weeks or possibly months to regain strength in her face, hands, feet, legs and other affected areas of her body.

Guillain Barre Syndrome is very rare affecting 1 or 2 people per 100,000 annually. Tracy was extremely lucky to find the right doctors that helped diagnose her quickly and start treatment.

We are all hoping for a full recovery as she has the care she needs right here in her hometown of Puerto Vallarta.

As you all know by now, Tracy was diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome.
This news comes as a shock to all of us, but no one more so than Tracy herself and her husband, Josue.

With Tracy's family and friends located all over the globe we hope to use this blog to keep everyone updated on her condition, her progress and to give her and Josue much needed emotional support.

But that's not all we can do. Tracy's road to recovery will undoubtedly be a long one therefore we have set up an account so that donations can be made to assist Tracy and Josue through this very trying time. (Just click the donate button on the sidebar.)

We hope that you will check back here often and share this page with everyone you know.

Please feel free to leave messages for Tracy and remind her that she is not fighting this alone, but that she is supported by her loving husband, her son, her family, her friends, and her community.