Join the Fight With Jean: A Cancer Journey

In 2016, Jean Minto was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer. We refer to it as Harvey. It’s called a carcinosarcoma. Or MMMT. Mixed Mulerian malignant tumor. Not your garden variety uterine cancer. One radical hysterectomy followed and then radiation and chemotherapy. We thought we’d beat it. A maintenance plan was begun. Party time! Harvey returned in her lungs two years later. More chemotherapy was ordered, more hair loss, more nausea, pain, and all the wonderful side effects chemotherapy brings. No radiation this time but she’s since lost the feeling in her fingertips which is permanent. Maintenance began again with PET scans every 6 months. In June, her PET scan looked good. Mostly stable but the chemo maintenance cocktail she was on was starting to lose its effectiveness. We would have to explore other options soon Just last week (August 18) while visiting her granddaughter, Jean was taken to the emergency room in Fairfax Virginia because she could not walk or stand on her own, her speech was slurred and her hands had tremors. CT scan revealed 2 masses in her brain. Harvey had found a new home and was making himself comfortable. The larger mass (5.2cm) was removed on Friday, August 21 at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. Jean came here from Fairfax because this is where her team of doctors were. Surgery went well but she still has the smaller tumor (2.2cm) as well as blood clots in legs and lungs that need to be treated. This will begin once she is sufficiently recovered from surgery. Insurance will not cover everything. Multiple MRIs have already been done, CT scans, chest X-rays, brain surgery, two ICU stays, ER copays...the list goes on. She will need an MRI every 2-3 months now to make sure Harvey stays away. Jean is a teacher and professor at both Cairn University in Langhorne, PA and at Bucks County Community College. She has devoted her life to her students and has been an inspiration to all who have had the privilege to learn from her and work with her. And she is nowhere near ready to give that up! We are asking for help with her medical bills, both what has been accrued in the past week and the ongoing therapy and medical attention she will need including adapting her home to better serve her needs, supplementing loss of income while she is in treatment, gas and toll money to get to treatments and assistance with all the new prescriptions she will need. Jean is a fighter, she’s fought Harvey off twice now, maybe the third time will be the charm and he won’t come back! Will you fight with us? Will you kick Harvey out for good?