Married Couple Diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer in the Same Week: 'Not Done Seeing' Their 4 Children 'Grow,' Wife Says
The Millbrook, Ala., couple is "not done seeing" their four children "grow," Wendy said
The Wilsons will be sharing their 'journey' together on the TikTok account @ourcancerbattleKevin and Wendy Wilson have 'always carried the weight of life together,' a GoFundMe fundraiser for the couple reads.
The Millbrook, Ala., couple has been together for 21 years, married for 18 and share four children. But for a long time, Wendy was the only half of the pair undergoing treatment for cancer — until now.
The Alabama mom — who received her first cancer diagnosis in 2004 and underwent a double mastectomy in 2017, per GoFundMe — just learned that her breast cancer has recurred.
"I've had ovarian, cervical and breast cancer, and then, this time, with breast cancer,' Wendy told NBC affiliate WSFA. Her husband's recent diagnosis, meanwhile, is his first.
'He was told that he has stage 4 prostate cancer, and then, within a week later, I was told that my breast cancer had come back for a second time,' Wendy told WSFA.
Like Kevin, her cancer is also stage 4 this time around, 'because it had spread to other areas of my body,' Wendy added.
The couple are 'the kind of people who give without asking, who love without limits, and who never stop fighting for their family,' the GoFundMe says. And family is exactly what gives them strength, according to Wendy.
'To be honest, it's my kids,' she told WSFA. 'I'm not done seeing them grow.'
'I'm not done seeing them graduate high school, or continue the legacy of us,' she continued. 'So, that's my strength: showing them that no matter what you're faced with, you have to meet it head on and do the best you can, and if you can't you're going to go down fighting.'
The Wilsons' youngest child, daughter Savannah, told WSFA that her parents 'need everything that they can get right now,' and urged people not to take time with the people they love for granted.
"Anything can turn bad quickly,' Savannah said, adding that 'no matter what you have going on, always check on your family and your loved ones.'
Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
As they receive treatment, Wendy and Kevin 'are both still working,' according to the GoFundMe. They are 'still showing up' and 'still trying to keep their lives steady while the ground beneath them keeps shifting," the fundraiser states.
They will also be sharing their 'journey' together on the TikTok account @ourcancerbattle.
'We are doing a little video diary type thing for our family and anybody to bring awareness and let everybody know how we're doing along the way,' Wendy said in the first TikTok.
'Cancer sucks,' she concluded. 'If you ever come to Millbrook, Alabama, don't drink the Kool-Aid, 'cause there's gotta be something in the water.'
Read the original article on People
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
GSK seeks FDA nod for expanded use of RSV vaccine in adults
(Reuters) -British drugmaker GSK said on Monday it had submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to extend the use of its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine to adults under the age of 50 at a higher risk of the disease. If approved in the world's biggest pharmaceuticals market, GSK's vaccine, Arexvy, would be competing for a market share in the 18-49 age group with Moderna's mRESVIA and Pfizer's Abrysvo. RSV is a common respiratory virus that causes seasonal infections such as the flu and is a leading cause of pneumonia and death in infants and older adults. GSK's vaccine is currently approved in the U.S. for preventing RSV-related disease in adults aged 60 and above, and in at-risk adults aged 50 to 59. While it had a lead in approvals initially, it has since lagged behind rivals and sales have fallen sharply. The FDA is expected to make a decision on the expanded use of Arexvy in the first half of 2026, GSK said. European regulators are also expected to rule on a similar application by then. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
DaVita Reveals Its Developments Towards ESG Goals in Its Community Care Report
DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) is one of the . On June 18, DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) released its Community Care report, highlighting its long-standing commitment to corporate citizenship and development towards ESG goals for 2025. DaVita Inc. posted its major developments in 2024. In 2020, the company announced broadened ESG goals and has since reported progress against its five strategic focus areas, including Patient Care, Team Engagement, Environmental Stewardship, Healthy Communities, and Leading with Integrity and Accountability. The company's 100% global operations are on track to be matched by renewable energy purchases by 2025. Moreover, over 8,200 DaVita patients received a kidney transplant in 2024, the company's highest number of annual transplants to date. Chinnapong/ 'This year, we're reflecting on 25 years of patient care and progress made toward improving the health and vibrancy of the communities and people we serve. Looking ahead to the next 25 years, I'm excited about how we're positioned to build on these recent community health achievements to enhance the care experience for people around the world,' said Javier Rodriguez, chief executive officer for DaVita. DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) is a healthcare provider focused on transforming care delivery to enhance the quality of life for patients worldwide. While we acknowledge the potential of DVA as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Medscape
36 minutes ago
- Medscape
Can This Pacemaker Overcome Stubborn Hypertension?
When medications for hypertension fail, or patients cannot adhere to the drugs, physicians may soon find themselves considering a new option for treating hypertension. Atrioventricular interval modulation (AVIM) therapy, a pacing algorithm incorporated into dual-chamber pacemakers, is being tested in patients with uncontrolled hypertension and a need for a pacemaker. Ongoing research could lead to a widened indication in patients who have uncontrolled blood pressure but do not need cardiac pacing, according to the developers of the technology. In April, the US FDA granted a Breakthrough Device Designation to Orchestra BioMed for its AVIM device, called BackBeat. According to the company, more than 7.7 million Americans meet the agency's criteria for this designation, having uncontrolled hypertension, preserved left ventricular systolic function, and a 10-year risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. David Hochman, the CEO of Orchestra BioMed, the company that created AVIM therapy, said a benefit of the technology is that it doesn't require patient adherence to medication. 'With hypertension, patients don't really necessarily feel symptoms, but they need to take medication to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, and they do feel side effects from the medicine.' Orchestra BioMed is collaborating with Medtronic on the BACKBEAT study, a randomized, double-blinded trial aiming to enroll approximately 500 patients. The MODERATO II study, on which the FDA designation was based, found patients who used the device experienced an 11.1 mm Hg ( P < .001) reduction in mean 24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure at 6 months, a 8.1 mm Hg greater than those managed only with antihypertensive medications. Older patients with isolated systolic hypertension are particularly challenging to manage. They 'are at higher risk of heart failure because of higher pulse pressure against a stiffer ventricle and stiffer blood vessels,' and they also are more challenging to treat,' Hochman said. 'It's a population with more unmet need and less dedicated research,' he added. Christopher DeSimone, MD, a cardiologist and electrophysiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said a nonpharmacologic option for uncontrolled hypertension is appealing because 'patients may have issues with compliance issues, polypharmacy and drug-drug interactions and face rising drug costs and fixed incomes.' However, he said he would like to see data showing this benefit is sustained in longer follow-up of 6-12 months. The 11 mg Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure seen in the MODERATO II trial is 'significant, and would play a big role for a lot of our patients.' A 2016 meta-analysis found every 10 mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure reduced the risk for major cardiovascular disease events by 20% and led to a 13% reduction in all-cause mortality. In those with pacemakers already, DeSimone said, 'the added risk of running the algorithm is essentially nothing. The patient would only stand to benefit and if not — the algorithm can be turned off.' But the implantation of a new pacing device for treating hypertension alone, he added, 'there are risks associated with the procedure, as well as infection risks given these reside in the bloodstream and can serve as a nidus for infection.' James Brian Byrd, MD, assistant professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a cardiologist who researches and treats hypertension, said reducing blood pressure is 'really, really important from the perspective of public health and avoiding strokes and early deaths from heart attacks.' But he questioned whether the financial incentives of implanting a device could outweigh the incentives of adding on inexpensive medications. 'We have really well established and effective treatments that are inexpensive, that aren't used enough, and don't have champions necessarily for them,' Byrd said, referencing later-line hypertension therapies like spironolactone, amiloride, guanfacine, and eplerenone. Spironolactone, for example, is a generic drug that does not receive industry promotion, and while it can be effective in treating isolated systolic hypertension in particular, use of the m edication is associated with hyperkalemia. He worried that physicians could be financially incentivized to implant a device that does not require long-term follow-up 'as opposed to giving people medication where you have to check periodically to see whether their potassium is too high.' DeSimone agreed hypertension therapy falls short in many patients. 'It is quite difficult for the patient's family doctor to add on yet another therapy that takes time and resources to monitor in a situation that is already overwhelmed,' he said. As a result, the overwhelming majority of hypertension patients 'are not optimized, so they're not taking all of the therapies they could take or they've not been prescribed the right doses.' Hochman said that concerns that pacemakers would be overused for blood pressure are premature. Orchestra Med would need to 'produce very compelling data that satisfies regulators and ultimately satisfies the clinical community' before the pacemakers could be used to treat blood pressure alone, he explained. He added that pacemakers have become safer, with the advent of conduction system pacing. Pacemakers are also becoming easier to implant with the move toward leadless devices which are implanted fully in the heart and have a small footprint. DeSimone said the two other approved medical devices to treat blood pressure, baroreflex activation therapy and renal denervation, have had limited effectiveness and uptake. With AVIM technology 'by altering the physiology of the heart and the autonomic nervous system together, this device would fill a need that is currently lacking.' Hochman is the CEO of Orchestra BioMed, the company that created the AVIM pacemaker technology. Byrd has served on advisory boards for companies developing medications for hypertension. DeSimone reported having no relevant financial conflicts of interest.
