Candace's Cancer Journey

Hi, my name is Brooklyn and I am fundraising for my best friend Candace Sanner. Candace was recently diagnosed with stage 3 esophageal cancer. She is married to Chad Sanner. Chad and Candace have 4 children; Chloe,  Aubrie, and two still at home. Bella 12 years old and Dorado 6. Below is Candace's story in her own words:

 

March 2021: I tested positive for Covid. Two weeks later I had sudden, excruciating pain in my chest that lasted for weeks. After being sent for a cat scan to rule out a blood clot, I was told it was simply “acid reflux” a covid symptom. The discomfort and pain continued anytime I would eat or drink for MONTHS.

 

July 25,2021: I was rushed into the hospital and admitted for internal bleeding.

 

July 27,2021: I received a blood transfusion and had an endoscopy. They found an ulcer with an “abnormal tumor” and took a scraping of it. I was in the hospital a total of 5 days.

 

Aug 24, 2021: I was transferred to a specialist and a larger hospital to receive another Endoscopy with Ultrasound after the previous scraping came back “concerning”. This procedure is when they realized the tumor had doubled in size in four weeks and we were not dealing with a simple “stomach ulcer”. I woke up to learn several biopsies were taken and there were concerns, so my biopsies were marked urgent and sent off. Without even knowing those results, we were told they would need to transfer my care to another specialist and hospital.

 

Aug 25, 2021: Fast, right? I was sitting in my car talking to my momma when all of a sudden we lost service “sitting still” and I got a text that new test results had been received in my patients portal. So I decided, I’ll check them quick, then call her back with GREAT NEWS! While sitting alone, I logged in and read the words “Moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma”. I knew carcinoma meant cancer BUT of course, I am not a DR & before I gave Chad a heart attack, I had to be sure. So I texted the lab results to a nurse friend with the words “this is cancer, right”? Then called her immediately, she sent me to voicemail with a text I’ll call you in a sec, to which I knew then, it was in fact really cancer. I told Chad, he of course cried, I started to laugh and then the tears just began to flow. Numb in those following hours is an understatement. After a night of research, I knew what had to be done.

 

Aug 26,2021: Chad and I decided this morning, the only way to make it through this, while getting me the best care possible AND making sure our kids had consistent care, love and structure, was to have them near my family in Oklahoma. Knowing Chad was going to be with me each step, he couldn’t keep his job, if he couldn’t keep his job there was no way to maintain our mortgage & other bills etc. We signed papers that evening with a realtor to list our home for sale.

 

Aug 30- Sept 3,2021: a total blur, as we started packing our home, a little each day AND had appointments every single day, spent at LEAST 8+ hours on the phone every day with insurance, lawyers, doctors, family/friends, labs, receptionist, supervisors, you name it. It is this week I realized just how screwed up our medical system is, I realized just how devastating this type of news is to a family and how little support and guidance is given after such a life altering diagnosis.

 

Candace and her husband have decided that Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida is the best place to receive care. I am raising money to help them with bills, plane tickets, housing etc.