Help Suzan Vande Zande Fight Colon Cancer
Hello, my name is Kellie Johnson. I am hosting a fundraiser on behalf of my sister Suzan Vande Zande. Suzan was diagnosed with Colorectal cancer on 03/31/2021. Wellstar diagnosed it as stage 2 but Emory, later on, diagnosed it to be in the lymph nodes and diagnosed it as stage 3. The scheduled MRI took a negative turn when she arrived to do the MRI and they found out that due to her spinal cord stimulator that the MRI would totally destroy it so they are not able to find out how much or how bad the cancer is in the lymph nodes.
Suzan had a spinal cord stimulator placed in her back in 2002 due to an injury where she has a spinal fusion and permanent nerve damage. The spinal cord stimulator sends electrical signals to the spinal cord for the treatment of her pain and without this device, she would live a life of pain and would have to turn to pain medication. It also allows her to walk without a cane.
She started chemo on April 26th which she goes to every 2 weeks and is scheduled for 8 treatments. Each time she goes to chemo it is $169 out of pocket and each time she goes to Emory it ranges from $100-$150. You can't even imagine how many doctors visits that she has to go to fight this cancer. She is receiving FolFox Chemo with the biggest side effects so far are neuropathy in the hands and feet, lots of nausea, sleeplessness, nosebleeds, and chemo flu for a few days after each treatment. The chemo that she is on does cause hair thinning, but not complete hair loss like other types of chemo cause.
Her radiation is set to start in August but with standard radiation, there is a 90% chance it will totally destroy her spinal cord stimulator and they will have to surgically remove it after radiation. There is no way of knowing whether or not it can even be replaced due to scar tissue build-up. She was so thrilled when her doctors recommended Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) which would not destroy her spinal stimulator. However, her medical insurance denied covering the IMRT. They said that they will replace the stimulator after radiation but the stim is in her lower back and she will have to wait a year to complete the cancer treatment and allow the tissue to heal. She will have to deal with the pain for a year until the surgery and if they cannot replace it then she will be in excruciating pain for the rest of her life. She will have to be on highly addictive pain meds if this happens. She is definitely going to do the IMRT due to the high risk with the standard radiation.
She has appealed the insurance decision but has been denied repeatedly. The doctors say that they are at a dead end and need to go ahead with IMRT and pay out of pocket. They want her to do 6 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week, 30 treatments in all. She is unable to pay for this. The hospital has been unable to give her an exact price because they are not sure which type of IMRT they will do. The price per treatment ranges from $5000-$24000. That puts a total anywhere between $150,000-$720,000. The hospital has said they will give her a self-pay discount but have not said how much of a discount that will be.
However, regardless of the diagnosis, Suzan has remained positive and strong through it all. Suzan is the most caring person and is always giving her time to help others in need. You could always find her at her local church helping out with the special needs ministry for the past 8 years. Boy, does she love those kids and is always rounding up volunteers to help with their activities. Each time that I speak to her she has such a positive attitude for what she is going through. Suzan is so grateful for those of you who have reached out with a desire to help, the prayers and to give love and support to her and her family.
I wanted to do this gofundme for her even though she did not ask me to because I can hear the struggle that she is going through each day with not only having to deal with cancer but also the bills that are piling up and will continue to come in. I know that she is going to beat this cancer, but the fight won't be easy. Your donation, no matter how modest, will help her navigate the difficult journey ahead. While none of us can shoulder the burden for her, together we can at least ease some of the financial stress that she is enduring.