My name is Patty Bossolina and I am organizing this fundraiser on the behalf of my amazingly strong, courageous and beautiful sister in law Linda Mastandrea and her family. Linda was born in Bergen County NJ where she lived with her family and 5 siblings. As she grew up and started to explore the world she moved to different places and soon found Warwick NY, to be her home for over 30 years and the place she would find the love of her life William Mastandrea. Together they raised their wonderful son Billy.

On November 25, 2015 Linda wasn’t feeling well, she was complaining of severe pain in her abdomen.  Her husband and son took her to her emergency room where the doctors ran blood tests, scans, and x-rays to try and see what was going on and how to treat her.  The tests revealed she was suffering from pancreatitis which the doctors believe was caused from a new diabetes medication she was taking. She was admitted to the hospital where she spent close to 3 weeks. The time she spent there was very restless for her.  She was extremely uncomfortable and unable to sit up and she could only lay on one side of her body. During the time she was in the hospital there was a growth on her back that she explained felt like an alien living and growing in her back and it was clearly visible to the eye. Unbeknown to her and her family the doctors had spotted something on her x-ray from the emergency room in her lung but continued to run test after test to be certain of their finding. The doctor finally gave her a diagnoses of cancer and the growth on her back was a metastasis. However, it still was not clear what she was up against.  He advised her to take all her medical records and get to Sloan Kettering right away.   So she did just that.  For the next 2 months she was back and forth to different cancer centers. Insurance was becoming a major factor.  Finally, after many frustrating days she was now a patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering and the doctors and surgeons moved quickly to do a surgery to remove the growth on her back that was making it physically impossible for her to stand, sit or lay down.  On January 23, 2016 the surgeons removed the tumor and sent it for further testing to determine exactly what type of cancer she had.  After what seemed like a life time she was told she has Stage 4 lung cancer, Sarcomatoid Carcinoma is the name which the doctors have explained is extremely rare with a 1% chance of survival.  Her treatment was to start with Chemo and radiation.  Linda has completed her first round and is starting her second round.  Her doctor has told her unfortunately they will not be able to rid her of cancer and when she has had enough of treatment she will know.

Linda has taken on this diagnosis with a smile and an attitude ready to fight. This will be a battle, but with so many people who know and love Linda and her family, she will not fight alone she has an army behind her. That being said, there are so many people looking to help, so we’ve started this page in hopes of raising money for the family to offset any costs they are facing in  this battle.  

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and even if a donation isn’t possible, please send prayers and positive thoughts to Linda and the Mastandrea family. Linda, Bill, and Billy will continually need all of the positive thoughts, prayers, support throughout all of this. We ask that you please share this page on Facebook, through email, by word of mouth, etc. We want this page to reach the most people it possibly can.
Thank you  and God Bless