Tammy Renee Phillips was a beautiful young lady who had many gifts, amazing talents and a promising life. Her talents included singing, poetry and artistry. She was very poetic and wrote many songs as she was striving to make a musical career. Tammy had a melodious soprano voice and her range was very diverse. She was also able to draw and paint pictures free-hand as well as visualize and create personalized gift packages and décor for any occasion to suit your personal taste. Tammy also had an aspiring career serving as the Plan Administrator for the YMCA of the USA’s Employee Benefits Plan. She was engaged to be married and looking forward to having children and raising a family.
Tammy loved people with passion and provided them with caring support. She was a giving person, always looking for ways to make the lives of those around her better; sacrificing her own happiness for someone else’s and her vision to help others accomplish their goals. She was a non-begrudging giver to whoever had a need or even a desire. She was an inspiration to so many with whom she came in contact with and was always willing to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than her.
For the past 20 years of her life, Tammy supported the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization. Every year on Mother’s Day, Tammy would participate in the Y-Me Race for a Cure. She would round up a group to go with her or she would go alone to complete the 5K walk and make a donation towards the fight against breast cancer.
Christmas was always a special time for Tammy, her mom and family. Tammy would always make a treat to have at the family dinner. It became tradition for her and her mom to spend Christmas Eve together attending church and preparing for Christmas Day. However, Christmas 2008 proved to be very different as Tammy’s true struggle began.
During the week of Christmas 2008, Tammy prepared for the Christmas celebration as usual. She baked a cake and took it to her mom’s house but when she arrived, she was not feeling well and decided to lie down before attending church on Christmas Eve. When time came to attend service, Tammy’s mother noticed that she was moving unusually slow. During the service, Tammy’s mother became concerned as she remained seated the entire time and was barely able to stand once service was over. Under normal circumstances when they returned home, Tammy would assist her mom with whatever final things needed to be done before going to bed, however she unable to do anything. Unbeknownst to her mother and family, Tammy had not been feeling well for quite some time.
On Thursday, December 25, 2008, the family spent Christmas together eating dinner and exchanging gifts. Tammy tried hard to participate in the festivities but it was obvious that she was really struggling. Her mom noticed that even though she fixed her dinner plate, Tammy was not eating. She told her mom that she was hungry but her stomach felt full. She asked her mom to feel her stomach area and it felt very hard but her mom dismissed this as possibly gas and gave her antacid tablets in hopes that the full feeling would go away. On Friday, December 26, 2008, Tammy and her mom stayed home and watched movies however, Tammy was not feeling any better and perhaps, began feeling worse.
On Saturday, December 27, 2008, Tammy’s mom insisted that she go to the doctor. They prepared to go to the Olympia Fields, IL Urgent Care Facility. Tammy wanted to see the doctor alone while her mother waited in the waiting area. After seeing the doctor, Tammy asked that her mom not get nervous but stated that she had to go to the hospital emergency room. When her mom asked why, Tammy started to cry. She said that her heart beat was irregular and her blood work came back abnormal. It was necessary that she go to the emergency room immediately. For the most part, Tammy had a fear of doctors and would only go if it was absolutely necessary. Her mom called her dad and fiancé and requested that they come to the hospital as soon as possible. When they arrived at St. James Hospital, Tammy was seen right away. An initial CAT scan revealed an enlarged liver and high protein levels in her blood. Tammy was admitted to the hospital and the nightmare continued to unfold.
During Tammy’s stay and throughout the entire process, her mom never left her daughter’s side. She stayed in the chair next to her hospital bed for a week, only separating from her during tests and x-rays. It was later discovered that Tammy had a large tumor in her left breast. Her mom asked Tammy if she knew that there was a lump in her breast and never got an answer. Her mom knew in her heart that the doctors were trying to confirm that her daughter had the big “C” word…..CANCER.
After many tests, blood transfusions etc., Tammy wanted to leave the hospital. She did not want to spend New Year’s there. The doctor’s agreed to let her go home on condition that she returned on the Monday after the New Year’s holiday. During this time, Tammy’s mother decided to have her transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
On Wednesday, January 7, 2009, it was confirmed that Tammy had breast cancer which had metastasized to her liver. Tammy was so devastated that she tried to jump out of the window. This was the worse day of her mother’s life and it continued to spiral down from there. The doctor’s called in the psychiatrist to work with Tammy and discuss chemo therapy. She was prescribed an oral drug and only given chemo intravenously every 3 weeks. Tammy was relieved to know that the chemo treatment they prescribed would not take her hair out. The doctor’s tried to make her comfortable to keep the cancer from spreading any more than it had. By the time they left the hospital, Tammy was calm and sedated.
Tammy had her first intravenous chemo treatment the following week. A week later, Tammy lost over 20 pounds; it was evident that Tammy’s battle was quickly coming to an end. Unfortunately at that time, the doctors told her mom that there was nothing more they could do and recommended at home hospice care. They gave her mother booklets and phone numbers to call and schedule appointments with the hospice care unit. They explained that the hospice unit would be able to send a nurse out to assist with the care of Tammy at home. Her mom literally watched her daughter die over the course of only weeks.
On Sunday, February 1, 2009, Tammy took a turn for the worse. She was non-responsive. Her mom called for an ambulance and she was taken back to St. James Hospital. The doctors were able to revive her and she was conscious again however, her vital organs were beginning to shut down. The doctors told her mom and her dad that there was nothing more they could do for her other than make her comfortable and transfer her to the hospice unit located on another floor. They told her mom that she may live a day, a week, a month or even a year. They had no way of knowing how long it would be.
On Tuesday morning, February 3, 2009, Tammy left this life as we know it. After only 33 days from the official diagnosis of breast cancer, the most beautiful gift God ever gave her mom and dad was gone from this life. Tammy passed at the age of 40.
To try and express how difficult this has been for her mom is an impossible task. She can only move forward with what God is leading her to do and what she thinks her daughter would want her to do for others. More than anything, her mom believes that it was her daughter’s fear of the unknown that crippled her. She was afraid of seeing a doctor because of the fear of what the doctor might find wrong. So now, her mother is left with the task of trying to help other women get over the fear and be tested. If you think something is wrong, have your breast checked by a professional and seek treatment early. Tammy’s mom believes that had her daughter been seen by a doctor early on that she would still be here today. Her mother’s goal is to assist young women like Tammy with help to face the fear, have their breast checked, get a mammogram and save a young woman’s life.
