Medical Expenses

Rhonda Robert is one of the most hardworking and caring person I know.  She retired as a social worker who devoted countless hours to helping patients and care providers in the Via Christi's acute care setting.  She was forced to retire early due to a nerve injury (ulnar neuropathy).  Shortly after retirement, she was diagnosed with the incurable amyloidosis in May 2017.  She made countless trips to Mayo Clinic.  Despite the best effort and treatment from her local medical care team (some of the best we have) and  Mayo Clinic, she continues to have progressive worsening shortness of breath.  Initially, it was thought her lungs were filling up with fluid because of her amyloidosis.  She was in the process of getting work up for a stem cell transplant and for a heart valve repair when she had so much fluid in her chest (pleural effusion) that it had to be removed (thoracentesis).  Within 24 hour after her thoracentesis, she received the worst possible news.  She was told she has malignant ovarian cells in the fluid.  She was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer in June 2018 (13 months after her amyloidosis diagnose).  Since then, she has undergone chemotherapy and a total hysterectomy.  She is now going through chemotherapy again.  She is also going through the treatment for her Amyloidosis.  As if that is not enough, Rhonda is suffering from burning pain daily from her ulnar neuropathy (despite the surgeries she has gone through to manage it).

Recently, Rhonda told me she felt "so discouraged about my situation right now.  It's really kind of a crap shoot."  At the same time she "love my granddaughters and daughter so much I just want to be here to see them a while longer."

Rhonda is fighting so hard and devoting everything she has to these battles--just like she did when she was fighting to help every patients, every healthcare provider (students, residents, physicians, therapists, etc), every colleague and every healthcare system she encountered.

Her healthcare expenses is mounting.  I am asking for everyone to donate to help Rhonda focus on her fights for every blessing days, rather than on the financial burden of her healthcare.