Help Jackie fight for her life!

Hi there and thank you for taking the time to read our story. My name is Kate, and I am the sister of the bravest woman I know. Our lives were turned upside-down the evening of October 13, 2022 when my sister, Jackie, suddenly had a seizure in her home. She was home alone with her daughter, who was smart and quick enough to know to call for help. Jackie was rushed to Ascension St. Joseph's hospital by ambulance, and we spent the night in the ER awaiting the results of her tests. As we joked about how they would be sending her home and telling her to slow down (as if!), the doctor on call approached us and said "Nine times out of ten I tell the patient to go home, get some rest, and follow up with their primary. You are the one out of ten, and I'm sorry." He continued to tell us that there was a large mass in Jackie's brain. They had a recent clean MRI on file from when she presented in June 2022 with Bells Palsy, so this large mass was new and grew very quickly. I think we were both too shocked to truly grasp what we were being told at that moment, but we were moved into a room in the ER and were told that she would be admitted into the neuro ICU shortly.

Over the next several hours we spoke to doctors, nurses, and surgeons who were careful not to tell us anything definitive, other than it was a large, aggressively growing mass with enough inflammation to displace the left side of her brain into the right side of her skull (hence the seizure she experienced). Her neurosurgeon confirmed that it was a type of cancer, although we weren't naming it yet at that time. Jackie was scheduled for surgical resection early the morning of Monday, 10/17/22. Family and close friends made a point to come by to see her before the surgery, all not knowing how truly terrifying the situation was. There were several hard and terrible conversations, just in case the worst happened. Monday, after about 5 hours of surgery, the surgeon came to the waiting room to tell Jackie's best friend, Jen, and me the terrible news... it was the worst kind. Jackie was formally diagnosed with grade 4 Glioblastoma multiforme, the mother of all brain cancers known for its extremely aggressive growth rate and terrible prognosis.

Since that day, Jackie has had her first round (six weeks) of chemotherapy and radiation and is now undergoing her maintenance chemo. She is working with her oncologists on starting Optune, a type of therapy that involves her wearing a machine on her head that could disrupt the division of any remaining cancer cells. We have been fighting with the insurance companies to make sure her bills are being paid, but it's been a struggle to get them to agree to accept the referrals from the hospital. She is now facing several thousands of dollars in medical bills and also staring down the very real possibility that she won't be able to afford her treatments moving forward.

Jackie is an incredibly hard-working single mom and is continuing to work while undergoing her treatment, through the side effects of her chemo and radiation. She isn't asking anyone for help, but I am. Yes, she is alright right now, but I am thinking down the road. I have only a fraction of an idea of what my sister is going through, but I know she's struggling to sleep through the night with the worry over not being able to pay her bills. I am writing this today with tears in my eyes in the hope that someone may read this and be able to help us. She wants to fight, for herself and her 12 year old daughter. She knows the road is going to be long and terrible, but we're strapping in. I am asking you, dear reader, to donate anything you can to help her. Whether it be a couple of bucks for her to buy dinner one night she's too tired to cook, money towards her medical bills, or something she can save to keep the lights on for when she can't work down the line. Anything will help, no matter the amount, and all the funds will go directly to Jackie.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and thank you again in advance.

Kate

EDIT AND UPDATE: Hello again. I wish I had better news to start with, but here we go. Jackie started having issues with her memory and word-finding mid-July. It had gotten to a point where she couldn't remember how to spell/write her name, and she noticed that her penmanship had changed. She scheduled an appointment with her neurologist on Tuesday, July 11th, and she was scheduled for an MRI within two weeks. Out of an abundance of caution, I asked her to stay home with me on Thursday, July 13th. That morning, we replaced her arrays on her Optune, had some complications, and changed them out again. Everything seemed fine at that point, other than her struggling a little with her word-finding. I talked her into coming with me to pick up C from ice-skating, and we planned on picking up Taco Bell for lunch after. As we were driving to the restaurant, she began to seize in my passenger seat. She was conscious and responsive the entire time. We rushed immediately to the ER, where she had three more seizures within thirty minutes. Imaging and an MRI with contrast showed her tumor had come back, and we settled in for several days in the ICU while they worked to get her seizures under control.

So, the monster is back... but here's the better news. Jackie was referred to Northwestern Medicine downtown for clinical trials. After meeting with the neuro-oncologist, she was chosen to participate in the SonoCloud-9 trial, which has shown some great promise in allowing standard chemotherapies to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. She is the youngest patient, and is a "PRIME" candidate for this study. She is undergoing her pre-op appointments this week before having her second resection on Friday. They will also be implanting the device into her skull at that time. She will be receiving treatments every 3-4 weeks, for a total of 6 treatments. She may have another 6 after that, depending on how well she tolerates it. We're hopeful that this will allow her to have prolonged time between occurrences, or maybe even wipe it out entirely. Long story short, the medicine is amazing and we're excited to hopefully be part of history.

Now to where I ask for more money... yes, I raised the goal on this GoFundMe. Jackie's continuing to fight with what insurance will and won't cover, and she has bills waiting in the wings for us to figure out how to pay. Beyond that, this surgery site is very close to the motor and speech parts of her brain, which could impact her ability to function normally in her job. I know she's afraid that this means she will no longer be able to work, and then the stress spirals from there on how she'll be able to afford her mortgage/monthly bills/everything C needs. This is a scary time for all of us, and she's been so incredibly brave through everything so far. The LAST thing I want Jackie to worry about is whether or not she can afford her care and everything else. I want to make sure she can concentrate on herself and fighting this terrible disease, and not on how she's going to be able to keep her home. I am asking you again, dear reader, to help in any way you can.

Thank you for taking the time to read this (AGAIN),

Kate