Christina's Battle with Cholangiocarcinoma
Donation protected
Christina Day was recently diagnosed with a rare liver cancer and is now fighting for her life. Christina is a 39-year-old female with a husband of 21 years and an 18-year-old son graduating this May (2020). She went back to college at the age of 26 years old to earn her bachelor’s degree in respiratory therapy at the University of Akron. She chose this profession after her son had experienced breathing issues as a toddler. The family had worked with respiratory therapists at Akron Children's Hospital where she was inspired to pursue a higher education.
On Friday, January 24th, 2020, Christina went to the emergency room for stomach pains and feeling something hard just below her right rib cage. She had felt fatigued over the past month or two having trouble working full time. She did not have any other symptoms before some stomach pains that started the day before. She recently left her career as a respiratory therapist at a local emergency room in December of 2019 to help take care of her son and to be a stay at home dog/cat mom thinking that her prior symptoms were just related to work stress and anxiety of daily life events. Her plan was to help with her husband’s second job as a mortgage loan officer to process paperwork and simply spend more time as a family after a stressful year in 2019. The family had a scare in late 2019 after their 18-year old son, Zachary, had a scan in his jaw showing some form of tumor that turned out to be a benign cyst. Although he is still in treatment, he is doing well. Zachary is expected to have surgery on his jaw later this year after an additional 6 months of treatment.
Christina went into the emergency room that Friday in late January expecting something insignificant. After a CT scan, the doctor informed her and her husband, Matthew, that there was a mass on her liver. They quickly recognized that she needed to be seen by specialists and needed additional testing. She was transported by ambulance to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (Ohio State) in Columbus, OH where they would be better able to identify and treat her condition. After spending that Friday evening in the ER at Ohio State, they admitted her to The James Comprehensive Cancer Center for additional testing and observation. Christina and her husband spent the next several nights at the hospital where Christina went through a battery of tests including a biopsy of her liver. She was released being told that someone would contact her when the biopsy results came back. At that point, the word cancer was used, but they would not be able to say with certainty what the mass is until after the biopsy results came back. There was a team of specialists looking at her scans and determined that she would not be a candidate for liver resection due to the size of the main tumor and the number of satellite tumors found throughout her liver. The main tumor is 7 cm which is considered large. Almost a week later, on February 4th, after she was released from the hospital, Christina was diagnosed with Stage III Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma; a rare but aggressive form of cancer in the bile duct. This type of cancer affects less than .0002% of the world’s population and is predominantly diagnosed in men over the age of 50. This form of cancer is incredibly fast paced and does not present any symptoms until it has progressed to a much later stage. Without treatment or surgery, the doctors gave her about 12 months to live. The only way to survive this cancer is for a successful liver resection. Because of the nature of this cancer, the cancer has a high re-occurrence rate and would even grow back in a new liver. She does not qualify for a liver transplant as there are strict guidelines on who can receive a new liver including the size of the main tumor and number of satellite tumors.
Christina was told by the specialists at The James that because of the size and location of the tumors, surgery (liver resection) was not currently an option unless they can shrink the size of the main tumor and stop the spread of the cancer. Christina had her first chemotherapy treatment on February 7th. Christina will have chemotherapy treatment once a week for two consecutive weeks, and then have a break the third week for her body to recover. Christina's treatment will follow this routine for a total of five cycles. After 2 months, she will undergo additional scans to see if her tumors responded to the chemotherapy. The current plan is to re-asses after four months to check the tumor growth and to determine if the mass has shrunk enough for a resection. If Christina is fortunate enough to have the liver resection, recovery would be a long and painful process with an estimated time of at least 6 months. During this time, she would need additional care. She will also need scanned every 3 months for several years to make sure the cancer does not come back.
The family has had 2nd, 3rd, and 4th opinions on her treatment and have contacted specialist across the nation as well as connected with survivors of this type of cancer. Genetic testing on her tumor markers has been ordered to see if specific trials would also be an option in the future.
The family is under tremendous pressure after recently planning to cut back with Christina no longer employed and the mountain of medical bills that are quickly accumulating. As her treatment continues, Matthew may need to take FMLA to help care for Christina during this time. FMLA would protect him from losing his job, but would not provide any source of income for the family. The family is also trying to plan to take special trips if Christina is well enough because of the uncertainty of a tomorrow. They have a trip planned to an exotic animal foundation in Mexico (something Christina has wanted to do for the past 5 years) and another trip being planned after Zachary graduates in June.
The family is working with specialists in Cleveland, OH and Chicago, IL in addition to their primary team in Columbus, OH to make informed decisions in her upcoming treatment. The family asks for your thoughts and prayers during this time. Christina is a warrior and is a statistic of one. With great odds against her and the family, there is still hope. The family wants to thank you in advance for simply taking the time to hear their story. If you want to help in other ways, please consider a financial donation.
All donations will be used towards not only medical costs (numerous hospital stays, genetic testing, chemotherapy treatments, medications, extensive treatment and care) but also the costs associated with hospital visits and taking care of their family.
On Friday, January 24th, 2020, Christina went to the emergency room for stomach pains and feeling something hard just below her right rib cage. She had felt fatigued over the past month or two having trouble working full time. She did not have any other symptoms before some stomach pains that started the day before. She recently left her career as a respiratory therapist at a local emergency room in December of 2019 to help take care of her son and to be a stay at home dog/cat mom thinking that her prior symptoms were just related to work stress and anxiety of daily life events. Her plan was to help with her husband’s second job as a mortgage loan officer to process paperwork and simply spend more time as a family after a stressful year in 2019. The family had a scare in late 2019 after their 18-year old son, Zachary, had a scan in his jaw showing some form of tumor that turned out to be a benign cyst. Although he is still in treatment, he is doing well. Zachary is expected to have surgery on his jaw later this year after an additional 6 months of treatment.
Christina went into the emergency room that Friday in late January expecting something insignificant. After a CT scan, the doctor informed her and her husband, Matthew, that there was a mass on her liver. They quickly recognized that she needed to be seen by specialists and needed additional testing. She was transported by ambulance to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (Ohio State) in Columbus, OH where they would be better able to identify and treat her condition. After spending that Friday evening in the ER at Ohio State, they admitted her to The James Comprehensive Cancer Center for additional testing and observation. Christina and her husband spent the next several nights at the hospital where Christina went through a battery of tests including a biopsy of her liver. She was released being told that someone would contact her when the biopsy results came back. At that point, the word cancer was used, but they would not be able to say with certainty what the mass is until after the biopsy results came back. There was a team of specialists looking at her scans and determined that she would not be a candidate for liver resection due to the size of the main tumor and the number of satellite tumors found throughout her liver. The main tumor is 7 cm which is considered large. Almost a week later, on February 4th, after she was released from the hospital, Christina was diagnosed with Stage III Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma; a rare but aggressive form of cancer in the bile duct. This type of cancer affects less than .0002% of the world’s population and is predominantly diagnosed in men over the age of 50. This form of cancer is incredibly fast paced and does not present any symptoms until it has progressed to a much later stage. Without treatment or surgery, the doctors gave her about 12 months to live. The only way to survive this cancer is for a successful liver resection. Because of the nature of this cancer, the cancer has a high re-occurrence rate and would even grow back in a new liver. She does not qualify for a liver transplant as there are strict guidelines on who can receive a new liver including the size of the main tumor and number of satellite tumors.
Christina was told by the specialists at The James that because of the size and location of the tumors, surgery (liver resection) was not currently an option unless they can shrink the size of the main tumor and stop the spread of the cancer. Christina had her first chemotherapy treatment on February 7th. Christina will have chemotherapy treatment once a week for two consecutive weeks, and then have a break the third week for her body to recover. Christina's treatment will follow this routine for a total of five cycles. After 2 months, she will undergo additional scans to see if her tumors responded to the chemotherapy. The current plan is to re-asses after four months to check the tumor growth and to determine if the mass has shrunk enough for a resection. If Christina is fortunate enough to have the liver resection, recovery would be a long and painful process with an estimated time of at least 6 months. During this time, she would need additional care. She will also need scanned every 3 months for several years to make sure the cancer does not come back.
The family has had 2nd, 3rd, and 4th opinions on her treatment and have contacted specialist across the nation as well as connected with survivors of this type of cancer. Genetic testing on her tumor markers has been ordered to see if specific trials would also be an option in the future.
The family is under tremendous pressure after recently planning to cut back with Christina no longer employed and the mountain of medical bills that are quickly accumulating. As her treatment continues, Matthew may need to take FMLA to help care for Christina during this time. FMLA would protect him from losing his job, but would not provide any source of income for the family. The family is also trying to plan to take special trips if Christina is well enough because of the uncertainty of a tomorrow. They have a trip planned to an exotic animal foundation in Mexico (something Christina has wanted to do for the past 5 years) and another trip being planned after Zachary graduates in June.
The family is working with specialists in Cleveland, OH and Chicago, IL in addition to their primary team in Columbus, OH to make informed decisions in her upcoming treatment. The family asks for your thoughts and prayers during this time. Christina is a warrior and is a statistic of one. With great odds against her and the family, there is still hope. The family wants to thank you in advance for simply taking the time to hear their story. If you want to help in other ways, please consider a financial donation.
All donations will be used towards not only medical costs (numerous hospital stays, genetic testing, chemotherapy treatments, medications, extensive treatment and care) but also the costs associated with hospital visits and taking care of their family.
Organizer and beneficiary
Arika Varalli
Organizer
New Lexington, OH
Matthew Day
Beneficiary