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Andie's Superheros-FU cancer

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I need your help. Andie’s cancer is back and surgery is in less than a week.

My 33 year old sister-in-law Andie has an incredibly rare form of cancer called clival chordoma, a spinal bone cancer about 300 people a year are diagnosed with at C1 and C2, pressing on her brain stem. Andie started treatment in March of 2020. After a long battle involving 5 surgeries by the head of neurosurgery at Mayo, a temporary move across the country for treatment during COVID while homeschooling the kids, and the loss of hearing and sight on her left side, she was finally in remission.

Remission was short-lived. This summer, Andie started experiencing progressive pain and numbness in her legs. She has a mass growing on her spine at L4 and L5, which her doctor said appears to be a drop met. Her virtual appointment was yesterday, September 16. Today, September 17, Mayo scheduled the surgery for this upcoming week. Pre-op is Friday, September 20, and surgery will be Monday, September 23. The hospital stay will likely be several days after the surgery, then a lengthy recovery over the next several months.

They suspect that the new tumor is something called a “drop met.” They will not know what it is, if it will need radiation, what the long-term effects and prognosis are, etc., until after they open her for surgery.

Andie’s husband, Shawn, is a bridge painter working out of state. He is the sole income provider for the household. He is not able to currently come home because he needs to keep working for the income to pay the bills. I am reaching out to ask you for help in whatever way you are able to. There is a GoFundMe, Venmo, and Amazon wish list of items to aid in recovery from surgery as well as household items that will continue to need to be purchased. We are hoping to raise enough money to at least get Shawn home for the surgery and a couple of weeks of recovery. No gift is too small. Even purchasing a small item on the Amazon list helps and reduces the need for us to purchase it.

When Shawn is home to be present for supporting his wife and 3 kids (15, 11, 8) during surgery and then during recovery, it is time he has to fully take off from work since his work is not local and he does not have PTO. Mortgage, electric, internet, car payments, etc., will still need to be made.

In addition to the healthcare costs and maintaining the house expenses, there also will need to be lodging booked next to Mayo for at least a week, in addition to multiple trips that are 4 hours one way in the coming months of recovery. Gas cards would be amazing as well.

Another way that you can help, I know the cost of living has gotten really hard, is any help finding grants to apply for, programs designed to help young families going through this kind of thing, etc. Any resources you know of or find, please send them to me. We will also be searching for resources; however, right now there are other things we have to do first.

Please also share this post. I am sharing it across platforms. Unfortunately, in this day and age, quality of life during healthcare emergencies and recovery are dependent on the number of views and shares.

Please help in whatever way you can and feels right to you.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you,
Katie Bonneville

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Donations 

  • Megan Wright
    • $25
    • 1 mo
  • Krisula GAUSE
    • $200
    • 2 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $25
    • 2 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $125
    • 2 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $200
    • 2 mos
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Organizer and beneficiary

Katie Bonneville
Organizer
Holiday, FL
Andrea Raymond
Beneficiary

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