Amanda Kicks Cancer
Donation protected
My wife, Amanda started experiencing pain in her right side in early January of 2018. We went to multiple doctors who were unable to find the source of her pain. Until we had a CT scan done on July 19th 2018 and we were hit with the worst news possible. She had a very rare, very aggressive, malignant tumor called leiomyosarcoma in her heart, liver, and inferior vena cava. To this day we both vividly remember the doctor telling us to give our 6 kids back (they were foster at the time) and prepare to die. We refused to accept that diagnosis and went on the hunt for a second opinion. Through many miracles, we ended up in New York City with a world class surgical team, who on August 17th performed a marathon 21 hour surgery. They removed her liver and operated on it outside of her body while a cardiothoracic team removed the tumor from her heart and replaced her vena cava with a synthetic sleeve. Once they removed the tumor from the liver they transplanted a small portion of it back into her body. I found out after the surgery that she almost died multiple times and bled out 5 times through out the surgery. The surgeon also told me that 60% of her liver was already dead from loss of blood and she wouldn't have lived another 24 hours with out the surgery. She spent the next 2 months in NY rehabbing and undergoing surgeries to fix complications from the first surgery. She returned home to Tulsa cancer free on October 19th.
It took 8 more weeks for her to fully recover from her surgeries. But she was back to full time mommy mode in no time. The kids were so excited that mommy got to come home in time for all of our holiday traditions. 2 months to the day of her coming home and 5 months to the day of the original terminal diagnosis, we all got the best Christmas present ever as we finalized the adoptions for all 6 kids. It was an unforgettable day as our friends and family packed the courthouse to support us in becoming a forever family. A few days later Amanda went for her first follow up CT scan in Oklahoma. The results were devastating. Several new possible tumors on her liver and some undistinguishable areas of concern in her lungs and heart. We tried for weeks to arrange a follow up appointment with an oncologist and schedule a biopsy in Oklahoma. Everyone we spoke with either had no confidence at all in treating her due to the rareness of her original diagnosis and the extensiveness of her surgery or could not accept her insurance. So going back to New York was her only option.
Amanda, her mom, and our youngest baby Naomi flew to New York on January 22nd. With her medical team there already assembled, she was able to quickly get a follow up appointment, a biopsy performed, and more specific results. As we feared, her liver had the same tumor that had just been removed back on it in several places. Her lungs also showed some small nodules in a new CT scan. Her surgical team advised that surgery was not an option at this time due to the number of tumors and placement on her liver. Her oncologist recommended a chemo regimen to try to suppress the tumor growth. Amanda had a surgery to put a port into her chest and began chemo immediately. We knew right away that our family could not handle being separated for an extended amount of time again. So we decided to take the whole family to be with her during her treatments. We found a short term vacation rental in New Jersey that would fit all of us. In February, I packed up our small van and drove across the country. We stayed in NJ and traveled to NYC for treatments until the end of April when her doctors decided she was stable enough to travel home. The chemo was working and she was handling the side effects very well so they were confident she could maintain her chemo regiment in Oklahoma.
We've been home and back to life as normal, except the weekly trips to OKC for chemo, since May 1st. In June, Amanda underwent 15 treatments of radiation to try to shrink one of the larger tumors that had displaced her right kidney. On July 11th, Amanda had her first CT scan since returning home this time. The results were not what we expected. Not only did the radiation not shrink the largest tumor, but there were several new tumors on her liver and new growth in her lungs as well. The doctor told us that this meant that her chemo regiment had stopped working and that we had few options for ongoing treatment, all of which had very serious risks. So we reached out to the oncologist in New York for his opinion. He had several more options for us to consider including a very promising clinical trial. We have decided that is our best option at this point. We need to move our family of 8 to New York semi-permanently as the clinical trial requires a 2 year commitment.
This is going to be a very expensive move and we put everything we had into our last stay in New Jersey. We need funds for deposits related to attaining a rental house/utilities, moving/storage of our household belongings, and transportation for 8 people to New York. At this point, we have enough to get Amanda, her mom, and baby Naomi back to NYC to begin treatment. This separates our family again in a time of extreme duress. We need to be together as a family. The children need to be with their mom. So our goal is to raise enough funds to re unite our family in New York and establish a residence there. We are on a short time frame because the kids will need to start school in about a month. We know that God has a plan for all of this and we are trusting that He will make a way for us all to be together and for Amanda's total healing. Thank you for taking the time to read our story. If you cannot give financially, please share to help us spread the story. We believe that it is a story of hope and that it will touch many people as we give God all the glory.
It took 8 more weeks for her to fully recover from her surgeries. But she was back to full time mommy mode in no time. The kids were so excited that mommy got to come home in time for all of our holiday traditions. 2 months to the day of her coming home and 5 months to the day of the original terminal diagnosis, we all got the best Christmas present ever as we finalized the adoptions for all 6 kids. It was an unforgettable day as our friends and family packed the courthouse to support us in becoming a forever family. A few days later Amanda went for her first follow up CT scan in Oklahoma. The results were devastating. Several new possible tumors on her liver and some undistinguishable areas of concern in her lungs and heart. We tried for weeks to arrange a follow up appointment with an oncologist and schedule a biopsy in Oklahoma. Everyone we spoke with either had no confidence at all in treating her due to the rareness of her original diagnosis and the extensiveness of her surgery or could not accept her insurance. So going back to New York was her only option.
Amanda, her mom, and our youngest baby Naomi flew to New York on January 22nd. With her medical team there already assembled, she was able to quickly get a follow up appointment, a biopsy performed, and more specific results. As we feared, her liver had the same tumor that had just been removed back on it in several places. Her lungs also showed some small nodules in a new CT scan. Her surgical team advised that surgery was not an option at this time due to the number of tumors and placement on her liver. Her oncologist recommended a chemo regimen to try to suppress the tumor growth. Amanda had a surgery to put a port into her chest and began chemo immediately. We knew right away that our family could not handle being separated for an extended amount of time again. So we decided to take the whole family to be with her during her treatments. We found a short term vacation rental in New Jersey that would fit all of us. In February, I packed up our small van and drove across the country. We stayed in NJ and traveled to NYC for treatments until the end of April when her doctors decided she was stable enough to travel home. The chemo was working and she was handling the side effects very well so they were confident she could maintain her chemo regiment in Oklahoma.
We've been home and back to life as normal, except the weekly trips to OKC for chemo, since May 1st. In June, Amanda underwent 15 treatments of radiation to try to shrink one of the larger tumors that had displaced her right kidney. On July 11th, Amanda had her first CT scan since returning home this time. The results were not what we expected. Not only did the radiation not shrink the largest tumor, but there were several new tumors on her liver and new growth in her lungs as well. The doctor told us that this meant that her chemo regiment had stopped working and that we had few options for ongoing treatment, all of which had very serious risks. So we reached out to the oncologist in New York for his opinion. He had several more options for us to consider including a very promising clinical trial. We have decided that is our best option at this point. We need to move our family of 8 to New York semi-permanently as the clinical trial requires a 2 year commitment.
This is going to be a very expensive move and we put everything we had into our last stay in New Jersey. We need funds for deposits related to attaining a rental house/utilities, moving/storage of our household belongings, and transportation for 8 people to New York. At this point, we have enough to get Amanda, her mom, and baby Naomi back to NYC to begin treatment. This separates our family again in a time of extreme duress. We need to be together as a family. The children need to be with their mom. So our goal is to raise enough funds to re unite our family in New York and establish a residence there. We are on a short time frame because the kids will need to start school in about a month. We know that God has a plan for all of this and we are trusting that He will make a way for us all to be together and for Amanda's total healing. Thank you for taking the time to read our story. If you cannot give financially, please share to help us spread the story. We believe that it is a story of hope and that it will touch many people as we give God all the glory.
Organizer
Garrett Quinn
Organizer
Eagleswood, NJ
