Help Kirsten Find Cancer Treatment!

Five years ago on the eve of my daughter’s first birthday,  my sister Kirsten, was diagnosed with stage III colorectal cancer.  Kirsten endured a major surgery and completed 6 months of chemo, and we thought she was in the clear.  After the agonizing illness and death of our mother, Kirsten’s cancer came back with a vengeance in September of 2015.  The cancer had spread to her lungs and liver and progressed to Stage IV. Kirsten’s colon cancer has become difficult to treat because of the specific mutations her cancer has adapted after 2.5 years of therapy. Standard of care treatment options are no longer effective. Kirsten is just 39: she and her husband John  have two teenage children who still need their mother.


We are running out of options

Over the past 2 years, Kirsten has spent hours upon hours trying to find clinical trials. At every turn, she’s run into heart-breaking roadblocks and has spent thousands of dollars traveling to top cancer centers in search of a clinical trial to save her life, only to be told that she doesn’t qualify.  Furthermore, the chemo treatments she is now battling through are not shrinking her tumors and she cannot do them forever due to cumulative toxic side effects. The amount of time, energy money and effort effort to sift through all the research, the treatment options (while going through brutal chemo treatments!)  and then even getting in contact with the people from the various clinical trials is nothing short of a herculean task. Until you go through cancer treatment to the point of considering clinical trials, you would think that a patient’s oncologist would have all the information and knowledge about these various clinical trials. They don’t and they cant. It’s almost impossible for one person to be up to speed on all of this. We’ve tried doing this on our own, and we now know that we need help.

Kirsten recently connected with a start-up company, called Driver . Driver’s pioneering service will match her with treatment options at the most innovative cancer centers in the United States. They will evaluate her for treatments at each of these cancer centers and Driver’s team of experts will give her high-touch, personalized support along the way.  The largest barriers that Kirsten has faced while pursuing trial treatments on her own - evaluating the trial, getting in contact with them, seeing if she qualifies, getting records back and forth, setting appointments and evaluating the information - are all things that Driver’s team will help her with. We are launching this Go Fund me campaign to help cover the cost of the service from Driver.

Please donate and share!

Kirsten has been reluctant to ask for help until she absolutely needed it.  She is Butte-tough to the bone, but today, she needs your help! Please donate to this campaign, share it with everyone you know over social media, email, text message and phone calls.  Cancer is a tough SOB, but we are tougher.  I know, with the help of Driver, that we will find my sister a cure. My family and I are so grateful for your love and support and appreciate any contribution that you can make.

About this Campaign

The funds from this GoFundMe campaign will go directly to Driver to pay for their service. Thank you so much for your support!