Helping Lorie Kick Cancers Ass!

Our dad, Daniel Tierney, became disabled 5 years ago due to a work-related injury. The surgery for the injury did not go as planned and resulted in 16 surgeries across the next 3 years. These surgeries led to multiple MRSA infections throughout his body. The strength of the antibiotics and the infections alone led to major weakening of his organs. His stomach had several operations to remove the MRSA, which later required plastic surgery and years of medication to heal properly. Throughout the MRSA infections, my dad also developed neuropathy throughout his hands and feet. He had lost 65% of feeling and is currently being treated every other week with 6 hours of IV medication. This has given him back a lot of his strength in hands and feet and will be required for several years. A year ago, he had a sudden optic stroke, causing him to become blind in his left eye in a matter of two months. This disease he has developed is known as Giant Cell Arteritis, which may eventually cause him to become fully blind. He is being treated with steroids and a chemotherapy pill to prevent the loss of his remaining vision in the right eye. He is on around 15+ medications to keep him comfortable and healthy under his current state.

Our mom, Lorie Tierney, has been the sole provider for our family and has worked two jobs to keep things afloat throughout all of this. She has been healthy and energetic our entire lives and has never had any type of sickness. Early January this year, she started to have difficulty speaking clear sentences and writing things correctly. Soon she started developing vision problems where she could only see half of some words when reading. This went on for 5 months and got worse as time progressed but her doctors couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong. 

On June 21st, our mom was working from home and suddenly had a seizure. After being rushed to the hospital and having numerous tests done, we were told that there were 2 tumors in her brain that were rather large, as well as, a tumor in her liver and a tumor in her lung. The 2 in her brain had to be removed immediately and emergency brain surgery was done 2 days later. She had a rough but strong recovery from the brain surgery and is now having trouble with vision and reading. A few weeks after her brain surgery, her arm and stomach started causing a lot of pain. We took her to the hospital where they later discovered another tumor in her shoulder bone and ordered a PET scan to be done on her entire body to check all areas. At this visit, the doctor gave his diagnosis, stating that she has stage IV Adenocarcinoma of the lung with metastasis to the brain, liver, and lymph nodes. Once the PET scan was completed, we were told that the tumor in her liver is now a 5 inch mass, and is currently the main concern as it is growing fast. The doctor estimated her life expectancy to be anywhere from two months to two years, but she is extremely strong and healthy for her age so we are doing everything possible to help her fight this.

She will finish radiation treatments for the brain and start chemotherapy for the rest of her body this week; her treatments will be once every 3 weeks for the next several months. She has good spirits and we are praying that the treatment is as painless and comfortable as possible for her. She has filed for disability but we were told her application could take anywhere from 4-7 months for it to be approved and set up for her. Her employer is no longer providing pay for her time off and she is currently having to pay all the insurance costs and medical bills.  Any donations given will be used towards outstanding medical bills, hospital visit bills, and insurance costs for this treatment. We can’t say thank you enough for your help in advance, it is appreciated so much.

Kelly and Sean Tierney