Hello All,

As many of you may know, Alex was diagnosed with a Grade II Astrocytoma back in 2019. Following her diagnosis, Alex underwent two craniotomies where her surgeon was able to remove less than half of her tumor. To halt/slow the growth of her tumor, Alex’s tumor resection was followed up by radiation and chemotherapy. After Alex’s first craniotomy, genetic testing was performed on portions of her resected tumor in order to learn more about her type of brain cancer. This testing revealed that although Alex’s tumor was originally diagnosed as Grade II, once the tumor began growing, it would behave more like a Grade IV Glioblastoma- which is widely known as the deadliest form of brain cancer. With this news, began the waiting game and endless flow of prayers. For the next two years, Alex underwent regular MRI’s which consistently showed no tumor growth. 

In 2022, Alex’s condition began to deteriorate, and we all feared that horrible news was coming. In September of 2022, an MRI confirmed that an additional tumor had started to grow off of the original tumor. Alex’s doctors immediately started her on a round of chemotherapy followed by radiation, which appeared to stop the growth of the new tumor growth by December of 2022. However, a subsequent MRI in February of 2023 showed that the tumor had more than doubled in size in just two months. Devastatingly, Alex’s doctors estimated that Alex had 3-5 months left to live. 

Following this horrible news, a third craniotomy was proposed by Alex’s surgeon who believed he could remove 80% of the new tumor growth in order to relieve pressure where the tumor was beginning to compress Alex’s brain stem as well as the optic nerve in her left eye. Alex’s surgeon said that although he did not expect the surgery to extend her prognosis, it doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t. He told her that he never expected her to live this long, so she had beaten the odds already. We all sat back and waited for Alex’s decision and were grateful when she said she didn’t want to die, and she wanted to fight. Thereafter, Alex underwent her third craniotomy on March 7, 2023. The resected tumor was biopsied and confirmed what earlier genetic testing predicted, Alex’s tumor is now a Grade IV Glioblastoma. Alex is currently back at home recovering from her surgery. Although the surgery was successful, Alex needs 24-hour care and supervision. 

This is the second Go Fund Me we have started for Alex and her husband, Todd. The first one was back in 2019 when Alex was first diagnosed with brain cancer. With your kindness and generosity, we raised more than $10,000.00 for them to help cover medical bills and they were able to stretch that money out for a long time. Your donations were so much more than just money as it helped Alex and her husband focus on the most important thing of all, Alex’s treatment. We’re here again now, facing the end of Alex’s journey and asking for your kindness and generosity once more. Any donations received would go to covering medical expenses which include Alex’s recent surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, prescription costs, and at-home medical equipment. If there are funds still available after paying medical expenses, we are hoping this money will give Todd some wiggle room to take time from work so that he can spend what little time he has left with his wife, with her at home. Todd has exhausted all of his PTO with his company and has already gone back to work this week instead of being able to stay home with Alex. Todd is the most loving husband and his devotion to caring for Alex is unparalleled. We are hoping that some of these donations will provide Todd and Alex with some financial freedom so that they can spend this precious time together. If you are able to financially contribute, any donations are greatly appreciated.

In addition to donations, if any of you reading this know Alex, I encourage you to reach out to her. Our time left with her is limited and in her limited time here, we want her to know how much she is loved.