B's Quest

Hi, my name is Nikki Cook, long time friend of Brandi Edwards. As some of you may know, she has been battling Stage 4 metastatic colon cancer for the last 2.5 years. For those of you who have donated money, meals or prayers over her journey to this point, thank you. Unfortunately, the cancer has spread and Brandi has spent the last 7 months enduring extensive surgeries, multiple rounds of chemo and radiation, as the cancer has spread to her lungs, bones, and liver.

In October Brandi went through a gruelling and high risk 13 hour HIPEC surgery that involved 106 degree live Chemo injected into her open abdomen for 2 hours then sucked out. It included a full Hysterectomy, a partial removal of both the large and small intestine, more removal of what is left remaining of her colon, a partial removal of her omentum, and removal of another 9 various tumours from open organs. Post 3 month recovery she received a new CT scan that showed the surgery was successful, however news revealed the cancer had spread to her lungs, her bones and her liver. Despite this news Brandi has refused to give up the fight, for herself, her family, her friends, and most importantly, her son Chase.

She has recently begun a new round of treatments, starting with 10 rounds of radiation and now onto her 21st round of Chemotherapy. She is on both a new drip and oral Chemo every two weeks for the next three months. She is also seeking advanced treatment options, all of which are not covered and will be a significant hardship and financial burden.

It's at this time we are coming together to ask for your support in easing the financial and emotional stress Brandi and Chase continue to be faced with. There is currently no end in sight to her treatment program which is why we are searching for not just a short term relief option but some long term security. Brandi is obviously unable to work and LTD does not remotely cover living expenses, let alone any additional expenses that come with being sick, being a single mom, or just the inflated costs of living these days.

All avenues of medical treatments, as well as financial aid have been researched and continue to be ongoing. We will provide updates as treatment protocols progress and scan results come in.

We will be doing an additional community event to gather those wishing to band around Brandi on this new path of her cancer battle and will include details here when plans are complete. In the meantime any and all assistance is greatly appreciated. Your $5 from a morning coffee, your $20 bottle of wine... it all adds up and it all makes a difference.

Over this 2.5 year journey there have been an array of emotions, a myriad of complications, a never ending list of uncertainty and a constant shift of interventions. Brandi has had more sick days than sunny days and the weight of this illness has almost broke her in more ways than any of us can imagine. Anything we can do to lead her down a path to recovery and mitigate the silent struggles of this disease would be so kindly welcomed.

From myself, and all those who love B, we want to see her beat this. She has an incredible tribe around her that continues to show up. That said, there are so many of you that have inquired about how best to currently help her and right now this is it. I will continue to update you as her treatments progress. Right now she needs your prayers and regardless of whether she responds back or not, she needs you to send her positive thoughts and cheer her on during all the hard days.

THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.