Assistance for Anna Gallucci née Coop

She’s tiny, spunky, full of vitality & humor. A fiery ginger, libra who loves to love; especially her husband Jeff and their boys Rocco & Jax. Always full of one-liners, she will tell you, if there’s a problem, you’re probably it. And I gotta agree!

Simply put, she is our Anna.

My name is Destiny and I never imagined I would be writing something like this.  It was just over a year ago that I was walking down a path of uncertainty & fear for my own health. But this story isn’t about me.  This story is about my sister who I am now watching these very fears unfold to one of the few in my life that I love more than myself.

We have this morning ritual. She calls me, I’m normally still sleeping, I’ll answer very groggy “hello”, she does her crazy little laugh and then says “ggggooodddd morning” like she’s some sports broadcaster. We’ve lived in separate provinces for 20+ years yet she still “forgets” about time zones or at least that’s what she tells me.  She’ll then proceed to tell me some crazy story about the night before. Only Anna can have the police break down your door when you’ve  invited a carpet shampooing company in to clean your carpets all because a nosy neighbor thought she was in trouble with 2 men coming into the house. Or the evening at work when a table of elderly were all shaken up (no pun intended) as they felt the ground shaking.  Anna doesn’t skip a beat and proceeds to tell everyone oh we probably have elephants in the casino and proceeds to tell them the Fallsview brings in all kinds of animals for shows. Only to have her manager run over afterwards and ask if everyone’s ok in her section as there was an Earthquake. Anna replied, earthquake, I have everyone believing there’s elephants in the building!

Some mornings it’s a 15 min phone call, other mornings a few hours chatting. Often her husband and children being the main focus of our conversation.

Like sisters, we share everything. Anna would ask me questions and I would respond that  I have that too. Or I would share something is happening to me and she too would have the same thing. Anna would then throw out a one liner or joke about getting “old” and we would laugh but we had no idea we were both having symptoms of cervical cancer.

I was lucky and had a doctor who was responsive and listened to my symptoms and results. A laser surgery and hysterectomy, really a walk in the park compared to what Anna is up against.

However, Anna’s symptoms and screening results were missed and she was not sent for referrals for years... As I was getting better and realized that these things I experienced were not normal, Anna symptoms were getting worse and she would say, Des, I don’t feel good, I don’t look good. I would reassure her, that she was probably fine and she will get in, and if anything is wrong, not to worry they will fix her up too.

But honestly, the thought of my sister being sick was tearing me up. First she was tied up with paperwork because of moving between provinces. But then when that finally got resolved Anna was waiting on a referral in an overloaded medical system...during covid!

Upon arriving to her first appointment with the specialist, Anna shared what she has been experiencing for the last few years along with some new more recent symptoms and the doctor actually pulled out anatomy chart to explain her body and said what Anna was describing and experiencing was impossible. He then completed an examination,  and in the most humble way told her that he was quite concerned about her health and rushed her for cancer screening.

Since this appointment and over the last couple of months Anna has undergone multiple examinations, CT, MRI and PET scans and finally on Friday we received her diagnosis & treatment plan.

Unfortunately cervical cancer is just the tip of the iceberg that Anna has in her way.  The cancer has also spread moving very fast, it has moved into her uterus and vaginal walls. As her cancer is extremely aggressive, she requires an aggressive treatment plan.

25 treatments of radiation & chemotherapy will commence every weekday for the next 5 weeks starting Monday. This will then be followed by brachytherapy treatments in London, Ontario.

Anna with her super high metabolism, probably hasn’t gained weight since grade 4 other than during her pregnancies - but unfortunately that blessing is not in her favor.  Friday she weighed in at a whole 97 lbs, this is after working with a dietitian to try and increase her weight. They prescribed her odorless/tasteless protein powder to be added to everything from coffee to ice cream to mash potatoes. As Anna put it, yeah, it’s not a flavor like vanilla or chocolate but it most definitely tastes like $&#%! I can tell you Anna would love nothing more than to be carrying an extra 100 lbs before starting her treatment.

Because Anna is so small, her organs are very close together and as a result she will suffer third degree burns from the belly button down, externally and internally. This is only one of the horrific side effects that were mentioned to her.

With the downturn of the economy since Covid, especially in Niagara, Anna has already been on and off work, putting in very minimal hours between the Hilton, Marriott & The Kasbah for the last year. But now with Jeff needing to be there for Anna during this time, her little family is gonna need some help. Anna’s treatments will be 6 hours a day, driving to and from the hospital in Hamilton, parking, and all the other unforeseeable expenses including medication.

With her supportive husband, and young boys, Anna has one hell of a fight ahead of her. Emotions Anna has shared recently...angry, scared, tired, helpless, overwhelmed, but when she mentioned she was concerned about finances, that’s the last thing I want her to do is worry about. How they are going cover the costs of these extra expenses should not be of any of her concern.  Any assistance for Anna is deeply appreciated.

Love Des