Cara 'Walters' Combs - Rest In Peace

[gmillerdrake]

I wanted to share something with you all because I think this person, Cara Combs....deserves to have as much recognition as possible. Cara passed away this morning from Cancer....she was 38. I grew up with Cara. We lived in the same subdivision and as most of us did when we were young all the neighborhood kids hung out all day and night and then reconvened the next day. Cara's house was one of the homes where we tended to gather because she had a trampoline and it was a good staging house for us all to meet on the way to the pool. Needless to say Cara and I spent hours upon hours together....sometimes with the gang and other times just us two. Like most of us when you get down to the nuts and bolts...she was simply a great person.

A couple months ago she went to the Dr. because she had a constant shoulder pain that just wasn't going away and in fact getting worse. She soon learned that she had stage 4 Skin Cancer....which, despite being stage 4 doesn't sound too scary because it's skin cancer, right? Well, to complicate things Cara was a couple months pregnant with her and her husband Roy's fourth child.

 And, as the Dr's began to examine and test her they soon realized that the cancer was VERY advanced and actually in many different areas. They were limited to the types of treatments they could perform due to her being 22 Weeks pregnant so Cara and Roy were faced with the choice of ending the pregnancy to begin immediate treatment for the advanced cancer....or, try and make it to 28 weeks to deliver the baby because 28 weeks would give the baby a 95% chance of living then pursue aggressive treatment. Cara chose to fight for the baby and through the strength and will of motherhood and just sheer determination she gave birth to baby 'Shay' on this past Sunday at 28 weeks.

At the time of delivery Cara had cancer in her clavicle, her right arm, her stomach, her liver....and a grapefruit size tumor over heart. She woke up yesterday for a brief period and was able to meet Shay and hold her....but sadly, Cara passed away this morning.

I didn't want to share this story to upset people or to try and get sympathy for her remaining family.....my desire is for everyone to know what a strong, courageous hero Cara is. Even with the cancer eating her alive on the inside...she fought and fought to hold on to the 28 week mark so her child could be born. Men may try and convince themselves that we are the 'stronger' sex....but there is no question that the Mother/Child bond is the strongest force in nature.....and Cara just proved it once again.

A 'go fund me' page has been set up for the family because, not only are they facing this unexpected loss of their mother.....baby Shay has quite a battle ahead. I didn't want to link it here but for those of you who would consider donating please just search on the go fund me site, it can be found under 'The Combs Family'.

Below is a picture of Cara and her family taken just last week. Hug your loved ones....tell those you love that you love them.....tomorrow is not promised to anyone.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

Thank you for sharing their story. She made an incredible sacrifice. Best wishes to the family and friends.

[hefdaddy42]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

[TAC]

Wow. Just Wow. God bless her and her family.

[Prog Snob]

That's a profound and sobering story. Thanks for sharing it, Gary.

[King Postwhore]

My heart goes out to her family.  It breaks my heart to read something like this.  Thank you Gary for sharing with us. 

[jingle.boy]

Wow.  Just wow.  It's scary to know that some random pain can be something so fatal, so fast.  God bless all of them in this time of sorrow and pain.

[gmillerdrake]

Wow.  Just wow.  It's scary to know that some random pain can be something so fatal, so fast. 

She had went to the Dr. a couple times complaining about it....and they examined her not really looking for cancer but more muscle/bone related. The skin cancer wasn't even evident to them until recently but I'm guessing that wasn't event the 'root' cancer but just one more instance of it's presence in her body......But, like you mentioned....from the time she first noticed something 'hurt' until now was less than a year.

This is just hard for me to imagine right now....I really am in disbelief. It's not as if we stayed in great contact over the years, I'd see her and her family once or twice a year....but man....from I'd say the age of 12/13 until I graduated High School I couldn't guess at how much time we spent together....especially after her parents divorced we were very close and spent a ton of time together. It's amazing how much the value of those memories just increased......

[King Postwhore]

I count my blessings every time I read something like this and what I went through around 2000-2001.  My mom was the same thing, thought it was a cold and never looked at the lungs until it was too late, and it was quick.

[gmillerdrake]

I count my blessings every time I read something like this and what I went through around 2000-2001.  My mom was the same thing, thought it was a cold and never looked at the lungs until it was too late, and it was quick.

It's amazing how when you're in the hustle and bustle of everyday life that you can 'forget' just how fragile 'we' really are.....and that literally in an instant you could not be here physically.

[King Postwhore]

What I've learned to if something doesn't feel right, get to the doctor right away.  Even for them it's a crap shoot.

[KevShmev]

Wow, that is a crushing story. 

[Prog Snob]

I count my blessings every time I read something like this and what I went through around 2000-2001.  My mom was the same thing, thought it was a cold and never looked at the lungs until it was too late, and it was quick.

It's amazing how when you're in the hustle and bustle of everyday life that you can 'forget' just how fragile 'we' really are.....and that literally in an instant you could not be here physically.

We're careless with ourselves and sometimes live capriciously not realizing the consequences that could befall us. I read your friend's story again last night and teared up a bit because I know that could be any of us here. Like I said above it really is sobering.

[Chino]

Touching story. Really makes you think about stuff. My apologies if this question is out of place, and please don't take this as any kind of negative comment toward Cara in any way. When you have a situation like this, outside of the premature birth, is the baby at any greater risk because the mother had cancer? If a pregnant woman has cancer, does her body neglect the fetus in anyway because it's trying to combat the cancer?

[TempusVox]

So sorry for the loss of your friend. Prayers for her family.

[gmillerdrake]

Touching story. Really makes you think about stuff. My apologies if this question is out of place, and please don't take this as any kind of negative comment toward Cara in any way. When you have a situation like this, outside of the premature birth, is the baby at any greater risk because the mother had cancer? If a pregnant woman has cancer, does her body neglect the fetus in anyway because it's trying to combat the cancer?

I don't think that's an unfair question Brian, They were/are concerned that baby Shay could have been born with cancer, but what I've heard from Roy's best friend is that outside of being premature....she is as healthy as she could be. She's actually been spending good amounts of time off assisted breathing which is good. I think the issue with getting treatment while pregnant was she couldn't get MRI's to determine just how much the cancer had spread and where because the magnetism will basically abort the baby and any chemo or other aggressive treatment could have harmed or caused her to abort as well.

The thing that I don't know if I made clear was that even if Cara had not passed away yesterday.....the aggressive treatment they were going to head to Texas for after giving birth was at best going to buy her another year tops....most likely just a few months. she knew she was dying and that it was going to be sooner than later. She also knew that the 28 week mark was vital for the best chance for Baby Shay and she hit that mark.


Her story was featured on a couple local TV stations last night:

https://fox2now.com/2015/12/08/mother-chooses-to-have-baby-instead-of-cancer-treatment/

https://www.ksdk.com/story/news/features/2015/12/08/eureka-mom-cancer-dies-baby-born/77022250/

[TAC]

The thing that I don't know if I made clear was that even if Cara had not passed away yesterday.....the aggressive treatment they were going to head to Texas for after giving birth was at best going to buy her another year tops....most likely just a few months. she knew she was dying and that it was going to be sooner than later. She also knew that the 28 week mark was vital for the best chance for Baby Shay and she hit that mark.

OK, that actually answers a question I had but didn't feel right in asking.

[bout to crash]

Wow, amazing story. Sorry for your loss and thanks for sharing.

Touching story. Really makes you think about stuff. My apologies if this question is out of place, and please don't take this as any kind of negative comment toward Cara in any way. When you have a situation like this, outside of the premature birth, is the baby at any greater risk because the mother had cancer? If a pregnant woman has cancer, does her body neglect the fetus in anyway because it's trying to combat the cancer?

I don't know much about cancer coupled with pregnancy but I did learn at work that often a lot of what you're taking in nutritionally is going to the cancer instead or the places it should be going. So I wonder if it would have some impact on what gets to the baby/what your diet should be in that kind of situation.

[TAC]

Gary, Cara's story is featured on the MSN homepage.

[gmillerdrake]

Gary, Cara's story is featured on the MSN homepage.

Thanks TAC...That's pretty cool.  The story has been popping up online on various sights.....and I think it's great for Roy and his girls. It helps thier go fund me page....and, helps show how strong she was.

Her visitation is Sunday and Funeral on Monday. Those are gonna be rough on a lot of people.

[cramx3]

Such a sad and powerful story.  Crazy how life works sometimes, thanks for sharing this.  Sorry for your loss as well.

[splent]

always count your blessings. I'm sorry that your friend passed, but that baby will always be a miracle.

My grandma went in from what she thought was an abdominal issue. They biopsied her colon to be safe. At first they thought it was an intestinal infection but two days later they discovered through those biospsy results a cancerous tumor in her colon. She just had surgery to remove the infected part of the colon (luckily the tumor didn't appear to be attached to anything else, so hopefully they caught it early enough before it could spread). She starts chemo next month.

Imagine if they didn't do that biopsy to be safe. My grandma would have no idea she had cancer. I'm so thankful that they did.