"Saving Gayla"
Donation protected
First, thank you for stopping by to read Gayla's story.
My name is Debra Westenberger. I live in Neenah, WI.
I have known Gayla 26 years. Years ago, when I was going through a divorce and became a single mother, Gayla was my rock. I have never forgotten that. She is a dear friend and beloved by many other friends and of course---a beautiful family.
It was Friday 13th July 2012 - Gayla's first colonoscopy mass was found and she was immediately admitted to the hospital.
She was scheduled for surgery the next morning, where 6 inches of colon, one ovary, and several smaller masses in her abdomen were removed.
She was officially diagnosed as Stage 4 Colon Cancer.
Gayla started on chemo the next month, right before her first grandchild, Moira was born.
She did very well at first and was able to go back to work (FVTC--Fox Valley Technical College) part time while she finished 12 rounds of chemo.
She seemed clear for almost a year when her cancer marker numbers started rising.
She had more scans in January of 2014 where spots were found on her lungs.
Her doctor immediately set her up to be seen at Mayo clinic.
She started back on chemo, did 6 rounds then had her first of two thoracotomies in June of 2014 where 4 wedges were removed from her left lung.
She still had spots in her right lung but they wanted her to finish out another 6 rounds of chemo.
As you can imagine, the chemo before and after Gayla's surgery was very hard on her.
She was unable to work as the chemo had made her very sick and bedridden most days out of each 14 day cycle.
In Oct 2014 docs in Mayo wanted to see what happened to the remaining spots so she was put on a 3 month chemo break before they decided what they were going to do on the right side.
She realized that in Dec she was going to have to start paying COBRA prices on her insurance.
She knew she couldn't afford the high premium cost so she went back to work part time.
She returned to Mayo for further scans in January 2015. These showed that not only were there spots in her right lung, more spots were seen on the left side, near where her original lung surgery had been.
The next step was now obvious.
It was decided that she would have a second thoracotomy on the right side then start up chemo again, indefinitely.
Most recently, Gayla had her second lung surgery (thoracotomy) right after this past Easter, April 7th, 2015.
Going back on full time disability means that she now have to pay FULL COBRA insurance premiums now, which are now up to $750 per month.
She will have to be on SSDI for 2 years before she is eligible for Medicare so she is scrambling trying to figure out how to pay for insurance for the next 2 years!
She can't go without insurance as she has a lot more cancer treatment in her future.
Her insurance has to cover Mayo clinic as well as her local medical team.
Gayla is soon going to be 55, is single and has already paired down her expenses. She does not own a house and recently sold her car because she couldn’t afford the repairs.
Just as you or I, Gayla just wants to be here for her two grown children and her beautiful grandchild, Moira.
Right now, her family and friends just want her to simply concentrate on healing and getting stronger!
This plea for your support for Gayla will help her to do just that!
I realize that times are tough everywhere. And, even Gayla felt that there were so many causes that were more pressing than hers. (of course, that is Gayla)
With that in mind, I want to add that anything you can offer is most needed and APPRECIATED!
And as always, your prayers, love and healing thoughts also needed every single day!
PLEASE HELP OUR SWEET GAYLA!
She desperately needs your help to pay for her health insurance and related medical expenses.
Gayla, her family and friends all thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
** All donations will be transferred directly into Gayla's personal account **
~ Be well ~
My name is Debra Westenberger. I live in Neenah, WI.
I have known Gayla 26 years. Years ago, when I was going through a divorce and became a single mother, Gayla was my rock. I have never forgotten that. She is a dear friend and beloved by many other friends and of course---a beautiful family.
It was Friday 13th July 2012 - Gayla's first colonoscopy mass was found and she was immediately admitted to the hospital.
She was scheduled for surgery the next morning, where 6 inches of colon, one ovary, and several smaller masses in her abdomen were removed.
She was officially diagnosed as Stage 4 Colon Cancer.
Gayla started on chemo the next month, right before her first grandchild, Moira was born.
She did very well at first and was able to go back to work (FVTC--Fox Valley Technical College) part time while she finished 12 rounds of chemo.
She seemed clear for almost a year when her cancer marker numbers started rising.
She had more scans in January of 2014 where spots were found on her lungs.
Her doctor immediately set her up to be seen at Mayo clinic.
She started back on chemo, did 6 rounds then had her first of two thoracotomies in June of 2014 where 4 wedges were removed from her left lung.
She still had spots in her right lung but they wanted her to finish out another 6 rounds of chemo.
As you can imagine, the chemo before and after Gayla's surgery was very hard on her.
She was unable to work as the chemo had made her very sick and bedridden most days out of each 14 day cycle.
In Oct 2014 docs in Mayo wanted to see what happened to the remaining spots so she was put on a 3 month chemo break before they decided what they were going to do on the right side.
She realized that in Dec she was going to have to start paying COBRA prices on her insurance.
She knew she couldn't afford the high premium cost so she went back to work part time.
She returned to Mayo for further scans in January 2015. These showed that not only were there spots in her right lung, more spots were seen on the left side, near where her original lung surgery had been.
The next step was now obvious.
It was decided that she would have a second thoracotomy on the right side then start up chemo again, indefinitely.
Most recently, Gayla had her second lung surgery (thoracotomy) right after this past Easter, April 7th, 2015.
Going back on full time disability means that she now have to pay FULL COBRA insurance premiums now, which are now up to $750 per month.
She will have to be on SSDI for 2 years before she is eligible for Medicare so she is scrambling trying to figure out how to pay for insurance for the next 2 years!
She can't go without insurance as she has a lot more cancer treatment in her future.
Her insurance has to cover Mayo clinic as well as her local medical team.
Gayla is soon going to be 55, is single and has already paired down her expenses. She does not own a house and recently sold her car because she couldn’t afford the repairs.
Just as you or I, Gayla just wants to be here for her two grown children and her beautiful grandchild, Moira.
Right now, her family and friends just want her to simply concentrate on healing and getting stronger!
This plea for your support for Gayla will help her to do just that!
I realize that times are tough everywhere. And, even Gayla felt that there were so many causes that were more pressing than hers. (of course, that is Gayla)
With that in mind, I want to add that anything you can offer is most needed and APPRECIATED!
And as always, your prayers, love and healing thoughts also needed every single day!
PLEASE HELP OUR SWEET GAYLA!
She desperately needs your help to pay for her health insurance and related medical expenses.
Gayla, her family and friends all thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
** All donations will be transferred directly into Gayla's personal account **
~ Be well ~
Organiser and beneficiary
Debra Morningstar-Westenberger
Organiser
Neenah, WI
Gayla Ross
Beneficiary
