Earlier this week I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with beautiful Alexandra Guthrie, our 2024 Three Little Wishes single Mama of her precious three and a half year old daughter, Sadie.
Alex’s story begins with Sadie.
In December of 2020 Alex gave birth to a healthy baby girl. When the pandemic hit and everyone was in their own little bubble, Alex was happy to be in a bubble with her precious Sadie. It was just the two of them for a long time.
Alex breastfed Sadie just past her 1st birthday (which, by the way, is supposed to be great for lowering the risk of breast cancer). After Sadie’s second birthday Alex found a lump that she truly believed was a clogged milk duct. Just as Alex & Sadie were ringing in the new year Alex was waiting for results of a biopsy which told her she had breast cancer. The diagnosis was stage two hormonal breast cancer. Terrified and feeling all alone, Alex battled thru chemo treatments that took away her beautiful hair and her happiness. Sadie now had a sad sick Mommy who cried all the time.
After only three treatments Alex stopped. She had so much trouble tolerating the chemo. After those first three treatments, the lump was removed. During surgery, they found that the cancer had gone to Alex’s lymph nodes and it was suggested that she underwent more chemo. This chemo was different than the other, it was also horrible but in different ways than the first. After three rounds, Alex became highly allergic to it.
Next was radiation. 30 rounds of it! This meant going to the hospital EVERYDAY. Alex did this in between her two school bus runs ( she was a school bus driver at the time) all the while with her dear Sadie in tow. Alex had a wonderful nurse who sat with her through all of it. When Alex rang that bell just after Thanksgiving 2023 she was so happy and truly thought she was one of the lucky ones to beat this horrible disease.
In March 2024 Alex had a fall which left her with a stubborn back pain that wouldn’t go away. After undergoing a CT scan, it was discovered that the cancer was back and had travelled to her liver, lungs and spine. Her worst fear, the worst words to come out of anyone’s mouth, “We are sorry, you now have stage 4 cancer.”
Alex says she still feels like she’s in a fog from hearing this news. She is sad to know that Sadie might never experience life with a healthy Mama. She feels that Sadie was too young to remember the fun happy Mommy she had in her first two years of life.
Today Alex’s focus is to make memories with Sadie so that Sadie will remember her. Alex also says that everyday she hopes she is a unicorn and the cancer goes away. Alex has been told she has 3-5 years to live which she believes should make her happy but she still feels very sad to know that on the good end of 5 years Sadie will not even be 10 yet.
Alex hopes to be lucky enough get some more time because really that’s all anyone wants is time with the one they love. We are so grateful to Alex for sharing her story and for being this year’s Three Little Wishes family.
We appreciate you and we know the glamjulz community is here to support Alex and Sadie in any way that we can. With your help, we are able to make a huge difference in the lives of families suffering from the financial burdens of cancer. Please consider our 2024 Three Little Wishes julz as part of your gift giving this holiday season. Let’s make this a record year for Alex & Sadie!
When Alex showed Sadie her julz Sadie said, “Mama, I love the little gems next to the big ones, that’s us!”
Click HERE to order yours.
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