By Robin Postell
ADEL, Ga. – Misty Rentz Lasseter, 40, and Tripp Lasseter, 9, are fighting for their lives.
Their entire family is fighting.
Tripp has been doing so since 2016. His aunt Misty, only since June.
Misty is married to Tripp’s father Gabe’s older brother Justin Lasseter.
Bound not by blood, but by family, Misty and Tripp bring to life September as Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and October as National Cancer Awareness Month.
In 2016, Tripp’s mother Kim was in labor with his baby sister Blake (aka “Sassy”) when they first noticed he was limping. Not long after, Tripp was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk neuroblastoma. Doctors told his parents that the tumor found was the size of a baseball and his bone marrow was 99 percent infiltrated, too.
Tripp underwent chemotherapy in Atlanta at the Aflac Cancer Center. Traveling back and forth from Cook County to Atlanta for chemo and stem cell treatments followed with hospital stays 30 days or more at a time took its toll emotionally and financially. There was no alternative.
Finally, what the family dreamed to hear – NED (no evidence of disease).
Since they’d been told there was only a 1 in 5 survival rate the news that he was cancer free felt miraculous. Tripp remained that way for a year and a half, during which he continued undergoing a clinical trial in Augusta.
But on July 28, 2019, they were told he had relapsed. His parents had bought a new house in May, spirited by his clean bill of health. Faith, they thought, and good doctors, had beat the odds.
Around this same time, his Aunt Misty, who has two young daughters, Kadence and Kendall, began having abdominal pains. Suddenly, Misty was diagnosed with cancer, which the doctors were unable to label. They thought it might be pancreatic cancer, but that diagnosis was ruled out. The tumors were numerous. Doctors refer to it as “gastric” cancer, which has made it impossible for Misty to eat.
Misty turned 40 in July. She began fighting immediately, posting on social media updates of her treatments. Doctors put in a port for chemotherapy and she struggled to remain strong. She and her husband, Justin, were confident that as long as it wasn’t stage 4 pancreatic cancer she could beat it.
On her Facebook page she posted on August 5, 2019:
The summer of 2019 brutalized the young families at every turn, with Gabe posting updates on Tripp as he fought hard to shoulder the merciless toxicity of chemo treatments. Gabe asked for prayers for not just Tripp, but for Misty and Justin and their girls, too.
The shroud of cancer had spread further over the Lasseter clan and their pain was and is palpable, even if you do not know them personally.
At the time of this writing, on Wednesday, September 4, Misty’s is preparing to leave the hospital, bound for home. There will be no more chemo or other treatments.
The hashtag #miracleformisty has been added to #superprayersfortripp which became well known in the area over the last few years since his diagnosis.
Kim Lasseter’s mother, Teresa Hodges, has championed the cause throughout her grandson Tripp’s struggles, and shored up more strength when Misty’s diagnosis proved grim.
“I had a painting done for her (Misty) to give to her girls and I want them to have it as soon as possible,” Teresa said on Wednesday. The painting is of Misty with her two daughters.
Misty in the center has wings.
Teresa grapples with the catastrophic damage this disease has had on her family. Her daughter Kim was devastated when someone commented on Facebook that she was exploiting her son’s illness for financial gain.
Teresa hopes people will pay attention to how this is ravaging one family. The struggle is difficult enough with one family member and cancer, but two? At the same time?
“It has shook this family to to core,” Teresa said. “I honestly don’t have words to describe how daily life feels with this in our lives. Then you have the mean ugly people that make the comments and the remarks.”
Teresa, watching her daughter struggle with Tripp, knows their family needs help, prayers. She wanted to get the word out to as many people as possible, to pray – to give Misty and Tripp as much of a chance as possible.
Neither Gabe or Justin have been able to work in order to care for Tripp and Misty. Kim is working every other week as an RN at SGMC.
The bills are stacking up. Medicine, travel, doctor’s bills, living expenses are not going away just because they are suffering two monumental tragedies.
The family beseeches those who have experienced cancer in their own lives, and to those who by some chance have not, to raise awareness about the disease, and pray for them.
To donate to one of the worthiest causes you will likely find, buy a raffle ticket, or contribute to the fund created for both families by Teresa.
See below:
On Thursday, October 10, in Tifton, a fundraiser is being held for Misty, but to help now, go to the Lasseter Family Fundraiser here.
Visit Super Prayers for Tripp Facebook page for more of his story.
