My Sister's Cancer Treatment Fund
Donation protected
My Sister’s Battle with Cancer:
For those of you that may know or for those who have yet to find out, my sister has had quite a battle with cancer. Here is her journey:
My beautiful sister Shalvi, 40, is up for yet another battle. A fight to be healthy and to see her adorable daughter, 13, grow up. The past few years have been very difficult for my sister and she has gone through one set back after another. Within the last few weeks we received more bad news, the biggest set back by far for my entire family.
It was May 2015, I still remember how happy my husband and I were when we found out that my sister and her daughter were visiting the United States for the very first time. We made so many plans for them and were ready to take them places within the United States. After a few days of her arrival and settling down, she complained about an acute pain in her left arm. The pain continued for a couple of days. I insisted her to go to see a doctor and she resisted for a bit, but finally, with her increasing pain in her left arm, she agreed to go and see a doctor.
When the doctor examined her, the reactions were numb which made me think that there is something wrong. Doctor required that we do a rush sonogram to see what the issue was. When the sonogram reports were received and studied by the doctor, it was discovered that she had carcinoma in her left breast and lymph nodes. The doctor informed my sister and it felt like the earth had completely shattered underneath us. How could this be even possible? That also, at the age of 37, at the time, was the constant question that I asked myself. What did we do wrong? Why my sister? All these questions were engrossed my thoughts.
My sister could not take the fact that this was cancer, that also at Stage 4. Upon informing my brother-in-law (my sister’s husband), it was a family decision to cancel the remaining trip and rush back to India for her complete treatment. Shalvi took it in her stride always smiling and determined to fight this disease with her husband.
Going through 12 chemos, 37 radiations and 18 Herceptin injections and a surgery has been traumatizing for my sister. She also suffered side effects from this treatment. It was certainly been a challenging time for her. After the constant struggling battle with Cancer for almost 2.5 years, to lead a happy healthy life, to our shock we found out that her cancer has relapsed again. This time she is diagnosed with secondary breast cancer to her brain (brain metastasis).
This time around, the cancer is extremely aggressive, to an extent that it has not only travelled to her brain but also in her liver. She has been presently taking radiations in the brain. As per the doctors, at this stage, her cancer can never be cured, but it can only be controlled with aggressive treatments for indefinite time period.
While doctors are still treating her brain metastasis to our shock we found out on Feb 27, 2018 that the agressive cancer has relapsed again into her entire spine. Unforunately this time around it is a rare disease called Leptomengeal spread which spreads between the brain and spine in the CFS fluid. She is in excrutiating pain and is being treated with another set of radiations in her spine which has led to her being completly bed ridden and disabled.
Its is so disheartening and sad to see my young sister suffering so much. It is most painful to see that she cannot even be with her growing daughter or can talk to her. This has affected her daughter the most, seeing her mother in this condition.
I have set up this page as I am raising funds to support her treatments in India. Her husband is self-employed and has an apartment with mortgage to pay along with raising her very young daughter, 13. With all the extra expenses associated with the hospital visits, chemo treatments, radiation treatments, and herceptine injections, PAT scans, MRIs, other medical tests on an ongoing basis that has put a hug burden on them and her family. In order to fight and control this aggressive Herceptin positive, ER-PR negative and now leptomenengisis cancer, she needs to take oral chemo everyday and Herceptin Injections every 21 days for indefinite time period, which costs around $3,000 for injections and other medications every month.
I am raising this fund because I want my sister to have a happy, healthy and long life and be able to give them a bit of break from the financial stress in support of this treatment. The astronomical costs associated with this treatment is simply inhumane. She needs to be treated indefinitely so that she can raise her daughter and see her grow up.
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart in advance for the any amount of donation possible, which will give my sister and my family the hope to survive, fight this battle against cancer and be an inspiration to all of us.
For those of you that may know or for those who have yet to find out, my sister has had quite a battle with cancer. Here is her journey:
My beautiful sister Shalvi, 40, is up for yet another battle. A fight to be healthy and to see her adorable daughter, 13, grow up. The past few years have been very difficult for my sister and she has gone through one set back after another. Within the last few weeks we received more bad news, the biggest set back by far for my entire family.
It was May 2015, I still remember how happy my husband and I were when we found out that my sister and her daughter were visiting the United States for the very first time. We made so many plans for them and were ready to take them places within the United States. After a few days of her arrival and settling down, she complained about an acute pain in her left arm. The pain continued for a couple of days. I insisted her to go to see a doctor and she resisted for a bit, but finally, with her increasing pain in her left arm, she agreed to go and see a doctor.
When the doctor examined her, the reactions were numb which made me think that there is something wrong. Doctor required that we do a rush sonogram to see what the issue was. When the sonogram reports were received and studied by the doctor, it was discovered that she had carcinoma in her left breast and lymph nodes. The doctor informed my sister and it felt like the earth had completely shattered underneath us. How could this be even possible? That also, at the age of 37, at the time, was the constant question that I asked myself. What did we do wrong? Why my sister? All these questions were engrossed my thoughts.
My sister could not take the fact that this was cancer, that also at Stage 4. Upon informing my brother-in-law (my sister’s husband), it was a family decision to cancel the remaining trip and rush back to India for her complete treatment. Shalvi took it in her stride always smiling and determined to fight this disease with her husband.
Going through 12 chemos, 37 radiations and 18 Herceptin injections and a surgery has been traumatizing for my sister. She also suffered side effects from this treatment. It was certainly been a challenging time for her. After the constant struggling battle with Cancer for almost 2.5 years, to lead a happy healthy life, to our shock we found out that her cancer has relapsed again. This time she is diagnosed with secondary breast cancer to her brain (brain metastasis).
This time around, the cancer is extremely aggressive, to an extent that it has not only travelled to her brain but also in her liver. She has been presently taking radiations in the brain. As per the doctors, at this stage, her cancer can never be cured, but it can only be controlled with aggressive treatments for indefinite time period.
While doctors are still treating her brain metastasis to our shock we found out on Feb 27, 2018 that the agressive cancer has relapsed again into her entire spine. Unforunately this time around it is a rare disease called Leptomengeal spread which spreads between the brain and spine in the CFS fluid. She is in excrutiating pain and is being treated with another set of radiations in her spine which has led to her being completly bed ridden and disabled.
Its is so disheartening and sad to see my young sister suffering so much. It is most painful to see that she cannot even be with her growing daughter or can talk to her. This has affected her daughter the most, seeing her mother in this condition.
I have set up this page as I am raising funds to support her treatments in India. Her husband is self-employed and has an apartment with mortgage to pay along with raising her very young daughter, 13. With all the extra expenses associated with the hospital visits, chemo treatments, radiation treatments, and herceptine injections, PAT scans, MRIs, other medical tests on an ongoing basis that has put a hug burden on them and her family. In order to fight and control this aggressive Herceptin positive, ER-PR negative and now leptomenengisis cancer, she needs to take oral chemo everyday and Herceptin Injections every 21 days for indefinite time period, which costs around $3,000 for injections and other medications every month.
I am raising this fund because I want my sister to have a happy, healthy and long life and be able to give them a bit of break from the financial stress in support of this treatment. The astronomical costs associated with this treatment is simply inhumane. She needs to be treated indefinitely so that she can raise her daughter and see her grow up.
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart in advance for the any amount of donation possible, which will give my sister and my family the hope to survive, fight this battle against cancer and be an inspiration to all of us.
Organizer
Aanal Sheth
Organizer
Huntington Station, NY
