HELP my Sister Beat Cancer! Please.
Donation protected
Let me start off with.. Her name is Jen.
A soul filled with love, courage, and the will to survive.
A normal kid who at the age of thirteen was diagnosed with Wegeners Granulomatosis, an auto-immune disease which initially presented itself as orbital vasculitis. The disease attacked her lungs, sinusis and kidneys. Prednisone was the form of treatment she received which led to a remission for three years. Unfortunately, Jen had a reno relapse which again was treated with prednisone. In time cyclophosphomide and immuran were added which caused her to lose her hair and gain weight to the point of immobility.
Everyday as a kid I would come home from school and go upstairs to my sisters bedroom. Despite the excrutiating pain she was in she would always be there for me and help me with my school work. She never stopped being my big sister. Jen was bed bound but never gave up. She even pursued schooling from home because she knew that the Wegeners would not stop her. Quitting was not an option.
Due to the immobility Jen developed compression fractures as the immune system was shutting down. Shingles and excrutiating pain would be the next challenge. Through out the two years of being bed bound it also caused DVT and blood clots which were treated with hepron drip and coumidan.
Could you imagine, now at this point, being nine teen years old and told by doctors your chances of survival are pretty slim. Some how, in some way, my sister defied what was said and not only survived but remained in remission for over a decade. In 2012, Jen married Adam. Life was perfect.
As newly weds they moved from Toronto to Yellowknife as Adam was deployed with the Canadian Forces. Unfortunately, her health once again had to take the bumpy scenic route. This time, Jen was diagnosed with bartholin cancer in late 2012. After a biopsy and many trips to Edmonton for her thirty three treatments of radiation she was told that she was cancer free, but not long after the symptoms came back. The surgery to remove the cancer was extremely dangerous as it involved removing her entire lower region along with part of the intestines and her bowels. The odds of living were slim to none and the quality of life after would have been harsh to say the least. That decision was clearly a NO!
My sister is the definition of heart. I have never in my short twenty five years on this planet seen someone exemplify the amount of selfless-ness my sister does on a daily basis. Here she is with cancer, acting like everything's ok, you would think trying to focus on herself but no she's helping the homeless by running a program for donations and to assist them. Jen is honestly one of a kind.
When the next CT showed multiple nodules (cancer) in the lungs with no available treatment options she was offered a study drug which she accepted. At that point she had been through radiation with no positive results so she was more than optomistic. The study drug AZD kept everything under control for almost a year. Another CT scan then revealed growth and she was taken off the study drug... With in a few weeks another study drug became an option that looked to be promising. In the first two months she had thirty percent shrinkage which was hopeful but the symptoms only progressed. Nausea, vomitting, constipation and constant pain beyond belief was a routine. That being said, she was hospitalized due to dehydration and uncontrollable diarrhea.
Now in the hospital tests were ran once again revealing cancer growth. More in the lungs and behind her bladder. The study drug that looked to be hopeful had failed..
She is now considered to be stage 4B, palative... Untreatable, uncurable..
The thing that astounds me is here I am whining about another routine day at work and my sister is in a hospital giving it everything she's got to get out, beat cancer and live what we all call another boring work day. Despite her current state she looks at it as she still has a home, a mortgage, a life to live with all the ordinary everyday worries and she only adds more stress to herself because she does not want to fail anyone. I am not in any way a writer and what I have wrote is more based on facts of Jen's health history. What she has dealt with is something I can't even begin to describe. I spent a majority of my child-hood in hospitals with my sister and going to appointments, and watching her never give up. I know she never will..
All I am asking is please help my sister beat cancer.
She cant do this one alone.
A soul filled with love, courage, and the will to survive.
A normal kid who at the age of thirteen was diagnosed with Wegeners Granulomatosis, an auto-immune disease which initially presented itself as orbital vasculitis. The disease attacked her lungs, sinusis and kidneys. Prednisone was the form of treatment she received which led to a remission for three years. Unfortunately, Jen had a reno relapse which again was treated with prednisone. In time cyclophosphomide and immuran were added which caused her to lose her hair and gain weight to the point of immobility.
Everyday as a kid I would come home from school and go upstairs to my sisters bedroom. Despite the excrutiating pain she was in she would always be there for me and help me with my school work. She never stopped being my big sister. Jen was bed bound but never gave up. She even pursued schooling from home because she knew that the Wegeners would not stop her. Quitting was not an option.
Due to the immobility Jen developed compression fractures as the immune system was shutting down. Shingles and excrutiating pain would be the next challenge. Through out the two years of being bed bound it also caused DVT and blood clots which were treated with hepron drip and coumidan.
Could you imagine, now at this point, being nine teen years old and told by doctors your chances of survival are pretty slim. Some how, in some way, my sister defied what was said and not only survived but remained in remission for over a decade. In 2012, Jen married Adam. Life was perfect.
As newly weds they moved from Toronto to Yellowknife as Adam was deployed with the Canadian Forces. Unfortunately, her health once again had to take the bumpy scenic route. This time, Jen was diagnosed with bartholin cancer in late 2012. After a biopsy and many trips to Edmonton for her thirty three treatments of radiation she was told that she was cancer free, but not long after the symptoms came back. The surgery to remove the cancer was extremely dangerous as it involved removing her entire lower region along with part of the intestines and her bowels. The odds of living were slim to none and the quality of life after would have been harsh to say the least. That decision was clearly a NO!
My sister is the definition of heart. I have never in my short twenty five years on this planet seen someone exemplify the amount of selfless-ness my sister does on a daily basis. Here she is with cancer, acting like everything's ok, you would think trying to focus on herself but no she's helping the homeless by running a program for donations and to assist them. Jen is honestly one of a kind.
When the next CT showed multiple nodules (cancer) in the lungs with no available treatment options she was offered a study drug which she accepted. At that point she had been through radiation with no positive results so she was more than optomistic. The study drug AZD kept everything under control for almost a year. Another CT scan then revealed growth and she was taken off the study drug... With in a few weeks another study drug became an option that looked to be promising. In the first two months she had thirty percent shrinkage which was hopeful but the symptoms only progressed. Nausea, vomitting, constipation and constant pain beyond belief was a routine. That being said, she was hospitalized due to dehydration and uncontrollable diarrhea.
Now in the hospital tests were ran once again revealing cancer growth. More in the lungs and behind her bladder. The study drug that looked to be hopeful had failed..
She is now considered to be stage 4B, palative... Untreatable, uncurable..
The thing that astounds me is here I am whining about another routine day at work and my sister is in a hospital giving it everything she's got to get out, beat cancer and live what we all call another boring work day. Despite her current state she looks at it as she still has a home, a mortgage, a life to live with all the ordinary everyday worries and she only adds more stress to herself because she does not want to fail anyone. I am not in any way a writer and what I have wrote is more based on facts of Jen's health history. What she has dealt with is something I can't even begin to describe. I spent a majority of my child-hood in hospitals with my sister and going to appointments, and watching her never give up. I know she never will..
All I am asking is please help my sister beat cancer.
She cant do this one alone.
Organizer
Ryan Andrews
Organizer
Qualicum Beach, BC