Help for Amanda witko

Hello,

Our sweet friend Amanda recently went into emergency surgery where a tumor was found and removed from her colon. Two days after returning home she was rushed back into surgery due to a surgical leak causing an infection. Praise God that happened as she was under even more specialized care and met her oncologist allowing her to complete diagnostic testing during her hospital stay. She has been diagnosed with an aggressive type of lymphoma called Burkett’s. Thankfully it responds well to chemotherapy and is curable.

Amanda has the opportunity to receive care in San Diego at UCSD, a nationally ranked cancer care hospital located 10 minutes from her sister’s house. She also will have a great support network of friends in addition to being closer to her family in San Diego. This temporary move has been a difficult and bittersweet decision as Amanda has been so well loved and established in Hawaii. She will miss her community where she is normally the one taking care of others, rehabbing private clients and patients as a Physical Therapist and helping them move better and return to their activities. Amanda has always been very active and healthy competing in ocean swimming, surfing and beach water polo. She’s shared her love of the ocean volunteering with AccesSurf and the adaptive surf team locally and internally. It’s hard to keep her from moving as she has also found a love for Latin dance and will miss performing with her dance familia, Rueda 808. All of the people she has met along the way, through church, activities, and through friends of friends, have been her Ohana.

We are calling all prayer warriors to pray over Amanda’s doctors. We ask you to pray for peace over Amanda’s mind and heart as she navigates this time. We are also asking, if you feel a tug on your heart, to help give financially. Amanda has qualified for aid and grants to offset some medical expenses however she will still need financial support through these months of treatment as she is unable to work.

If any of you know Amanda you would know she is one to step out and serve her friends and community. Let’s keep on praying, supporting and get Amanda back out into the ocean where she belongs!