Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Over the last few months you may have seen some posts on the Facebook page or on one of our two Instagram accounts @tattooedgeekboutique or @thequixoticeye about our friend Kim Mesorana.

Mid 2015, experiencing some shortness of breath along with a cough, Kim went to the doctors, but was quickly dismissed. The symptoms continued and were still not taken as seriously as they should have been.  5 weeks later, knowing her own body and feeling like something was off, Kim returned to the doctors and begged for further testing. Eventually the doctors discovered a tumor the size of a grapefruit in her chest, putting pressure on her heart and bronchial cord; causing the cough and shortness of breath.  The tumor lead to a diagnosis of stage 2 Bulky Mediastinal Classic Hodgkins Disease along with rare Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis.  If continued without treatment the combined cancers could have ended Kim's life within a year.


Kim is a wife and the mother of three children, the two youngest are under 5. She has begun chemotherapy and has undergone several surgeries.  I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the bills are racking up, the testing that lead to her diagnosis rang in over several thousands of dollars alone. When this frightening chapter of the Mesorana family history is finally closed and Kim is given a clean bill of health the last thing they need is years worth of crippling medical bills.

I created the Cancer Sucks candle as a means to raise some money for the Mesorana family.  However, since I started selling them they have come to mean so much more, and I've learned a few things because of them.

First, cancer doesn't just suck, it super sucks.  It sucks most for those fighting it, of course! But it also sucks for their family and care givers, it sucks for their friends, it sucks for those that have lost loved ones to it.  It even sucks just to be a bystander and witness the invasive and extreme treatments.  It sucks because its growing and affecting more and more people each day.  It sucks because some treatments are limited state by state regardless of the benefits to the actual patients. It sucks because of the astronomical costs of treatments, treatments that could absolutely mean life or death to most patients. It sucks because the top three most common courses of treatment, chemo, surgery and radiation, all have pretty significant side effects; including but not limited too, infection, organ failure and .....cancer! That's right, cancer treatments can cause new cancers to grow, wtf!  Cancer sucks because not all doctors take every symptom seriously, if my friend Kim hadn't pushed for tests she may still be undiagnosed now, and further away from ever being cured.  Please for your own health and wellness, take symptoms seriously and get regular checkups.  The earlier the detection the better the outcome.


I would sincerely appreciate it if you would consider buying a Cancer Sucks candle. They are available in both shops. www.thequixoticeye.etsy.com and for those of you without an Etsy account you can get them from the website www.tattooegeek.com.  If you'd rather not buy a candle, but still want to help, you can donate to the Kim Mesorana Stop Out Cancer Fund here: https://www.gofundme.com/kmdmes  Thank you!