The Lovett Family
Lizz Lovett, the brave young mother of four who inspired the world with her brave fight against inoperable kidney cancer, is nearing the end of her struggle and her family is asking for prayer.
According to the National Catholic Register, Lizz’s story began in early Lent 2014 when the 33 year-old mother of four began having problems with one of her kidneys. Surgery revealed the worst case scenario – inoperable stage four kidney cancer. She was told that she had, at best, about two years to live.
As a result of the devastating diagnosis, Lizz and her husband Ryan decided to move from Kentucky to their hometown of Portland, Oregon to be near family and friends. Lizz was put on a type of therapy that temporarily retarded the growth of the cancer. This enabled her to go back to enjoying life as a wife and mother.
During this time, Chris Stefanick of Real Life Catholic, a long-time friend of the Lovetts, produced a video about Lizz, entitled Death with Dignity, which was in stark contrast to the highly publicized ordeal of Brittany Maynard who chose to end her own life rather than face death from inoperable brain cancer.
Everything seemed to be going well until last fall, when the treatment stopped working. Doctors informed her that her time was running out.
Lizz and Ryan knew the time had come to tell their young children that God would be taking mommy home soon.
As difficult as that moment was, “Lizz hasn’t let her physical pain, struggle and the sadness of leaving her children fully determine her life,” writes Carrie Gress, a close friend of Lizz.
“She often reminds her husband that there is no shame in suffering and that it too is a gift. The last two years have taught her how to make sense of her suffering by uniting it with Christ’s Cross daily. Every ache, struggle, setback, heartbreak, she offers up for others, especially for priests. In this, she has found great joy in the midst of great suffering. Ryan told me that as odd as it sounds, they have come to love the very thing they wish the most had not happened.”
At the beginning of February, Lizz’s doctors gave her one to three months to live with one doctor believing she wouldn’t make it to March, Carrie wrote yesterday on a GoFundMe page dedicated to raising money to help the Lovetts deal with the medical costs.
“The biggest obstacle was not the tumors but the fluid pooling in Lizz’s stomach,” Carrie said. “After a visit to a naturopath, overnight seven pounds of fluid was reabsorbed back into Lizz’s body, giving her new strength to spend time with loved ones for several weeks. Unfortunately, the fluid is back and nothing seems to be stopping it. All the oncology and surgery options have been exhausted.”
Lizz and Ryan are now trying to decide the next step in hospice care as she prepares for the inevitable.
“Please keep them and their four children in your prayers for wisdom, strength, courage, and peace as they journey the way of the Cross.”
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