Support for Christina's Family

[This fundraiser will be left open for those who wish to support Christina's family during their time of grief. Thank you to anyone who has given. Your support has meant so much.]

I am fundraising to help my wonderful friend Christina, who is currently undergoing treatment for Stage 3C Cervical Cancer.

 

Christina knew something was wrong with her body in December of 2020. She went right to her GYN and asked for further testing; but the doctor she trusted her care to for nearly a decade dismissed her concerns. Christina was told that all her symptoms were likely caused by depression and rapid weight gain. Her doctor told her that because she was experiencing the debilitating pain of having lost a child, her body was reacting with the symptoms she was experiencing. Christina lost her 14 year old daughter, Faith Christina, to SUDEP Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy on August 9th 2019; and for the most part what the doctor was saying sounded reasonable - Christina trusted her doctor's expertise. Her doctor dismissed her with the medical advice to lose some weight and the symptoms would dissipate.

In April 2021, Christina returned to her GYN. By now she had lost weight as the doctor instructed but her symptoms had gotten worse not better. Additionally, she had been notified by mail that in Dec abnormal cells had been detected in her pap smear. This time her doctor was completely dismissive of Christina's concerns. She underwent a botched colposcopy, in which the doctor cut her with the speculum and she fainted 3 times and ended up in the ER.

Christina switched GYN doctors immediately and started to demand more testing and advocating for herself with her new doctor's office. The new doctor did exams and tests and told Christina her cervix looked "perfect". She was quickly diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia and told her condition was benign. Christina continued to be concerned and constantly questioned if she could have cancer or be at a higher risk for cancer. She even volunteered to have a hysterectomy because as she said, she "felt like she was living with a ticking time bomb in her abdomen". And the doctors were dismissive of her requests and assured her all her symptoms would be managed and resolved with a minor surgery and the implantation of a hormonal IUD.

While Christina was still feeling unheard she needed the doctors to approve her care plan and they were insistent they had the plan that would put an end to her pain. She put her trust in the experts. Her surgery was scheduled for July 2021, but she suffered a set back when she developed a respiratory infection and due to her asthma it didn't clear up enough for her to undergo anesthesia and intubation until September. Her surgery took place on Sept 3rd, and that is when the doctors discovered an inoperable tumor. They described it as a "large mass" on the outside and stretching to the left of her cervix. A biopsy was taken. And Sept 9th, the biopsy revealed she had cancer. By Sept 14th her care was transferred to the oncology care team of Women and Infants. A Sept 23rd PET scan revealed the cancer had lymph node involvement - her staging was 3C.

The doctors wanted her active treatment to begin right away and the treatment plan was for 6 chemotherapy sessions, 28 external radiations and 5 internal radiation surgeries. The treatment was scheduled to begin Sept 27th. On Sept 25th Christina suffered another set back when she and her whole family were exposed to and tested positive for Covid 19.

Recovering from Covid 19 set Christina's treatment back by 3 weeks.

Once the treatment started Christina maintained an extremely positive attitude, often dancing to and posting tiktok dances while undergoing chemo. She tries to involve her kids in her treatment in positive ways; for example she has her girls select silly cartoon shirts for each day of her treatment and intends to make those into quilts for her daughters once treatment is over. Or she has beads of courage that her kids selected for each part of her treatment and she allows them to string the beads onto a keychain to help them count down to the end of treatment.

Despite her positivity and good spirit in the face of this medical challenge she has endured so many painful set backs. She had a failed port which has to removed by emergency surgery. She was misdiagnosed after Covid and was suffering from Covid pneumonia for weeks without treatment. Almost weekly through her treatment she was having emergency blood transfusions. During her last internal radiation she experienced a complication of excessive bleeding. She is enduring numerous side effects and usually hides her discomfort with a smile. While going through all this she is still the primary caregiver to her 3 beautiful daughters here and grieving her child in heaven. The fact that this is all taking place at the holidays only exasperates her and her daughters' grieving.

Now with only 3 external radiations left in her "active treatment" she was exposed to a viral illness when her youngest children became sick over Thanksgiving break. Since Christina was the primary caregiver for her sick kids and her immune system was weak she quickly got sick herself. Soon her illness became much more serious and she went to the hospital thinking perhaps she needed another emergency blood transfusion. Instead on Dec 3rd she was admitted to Women and Infants in critical condition. She not only had a hemoglobin of 6. 5 (which is life threateningly low) but her white blood cell count was dangerously low. An infection was detected in her body and she is now in the hospital with no set end date in sight. Her hemoglobin and white blood cell counts need to rebound in order for her to continue treatment.

Christina and endured more than anyone person should have, and she has done so with grace, humor and flare. She uses her journey not only fighting cancer, but also her grief journey, to inspire and encourage others. She deserves to be cancer free and to continue raising her beautiful daughters without fear.

 

Christina is out of work on short term disability and has had issues with receiving her benefits in a timely and consistent manner, additionally she is only getting a fraction of her salary while she is out on leave. I am starting this go fund me to alleviate the financial burden fighting cancer full time is causing her family. Please join me in helping to take some of this burden off her shoulders so she can focus full time on getting well! Thank you,