Help ease Deidre's brain surgery & rehab burdens

Our dear sister and friend, Deidre Hered, is facing the test of a lifetime — multiple brain tumors and the surgery and radiation to get rid of them, then a long period of rehab, plus being away from her family and dog grooming and wellness business for an indefinite time — and of course she’s facing it with her usual resilience and crazy humor, but she’ll need some significant help to get through these challenges.

Deidre’s usually the one rushing in to help someone else! Over the last few years she’s given a temporary home to the dogs and cats (and even a turtle!) of a good friend who was going through some hard times. Deidre has always had a deep empathy for animals and huge generosity for people — for Deidre, her work as a dog groomer is about keeping the dogs she cares for healthy and feeling good and their people knowing their dogs are getting the best care possible. Deidre is beloved by dogs and humans alike for her sweet spirit and joyful energy.

But in late November, Deidre started noticing that something was wrong with her left eye — she had a lazy eye, her lid was drooping, and she started to get double vision and excruciating headaches. Her first thought was to go to her optometrist, but he couldn’t find what was wrong. Deidre went to her family doctor who immediately sent her to get an MRI and CT scan; he told her within hours that the symptoms were from brain tumors.

Deidre realized she would have to stop working with her clients immediately. For those of us close to her, we know this is a devastating shock. Deidre has dedicated herself to her work with dogs, helping her canine clients be as healthy and joyful as possible. She’s also the only service provider for and the sole owner of her business. Not being able to do that work is not only painful personally for Deidre, but also a major financial blow. And the next news was even worse.

Deidre learned that she would have to travel to New York City for extensive testing, preparation, surgery, radiation therapy, and rehabilitation AND would have to leave her home in Colorado immediately —leaving her son and husband during the Christmas holiday and beyond — to undergo these difficult and dangerous medical treatments. Deidre’s son Jack is everything in the world to Deidre and being away from him for any time would be painful enough, but for this long, and knowing what she’s facing, is almost unbearable for Deidre.

Jack is a sophomore in high school and working so hard on his schoolwork and coming into his own — his mom is his biggest fan. Jack has become the sweet, gentle, kind, considerate, warm, easy-going, great with animals, and compassionate person Deidre has always known he would and of course this ordeal will be very hard on him.

In the coming weeks, Deidre will be undergoing surgeries, rehab, and radiation. This will start with surgical removal of the meningioma tumor wrapped around her carotid artery. After this surgery, Deidre will recover for a few weeks in a care facility while undergoing rehabilitation for her eyesight and hand-eye coordination, as well as undergoing other treatments to save her vision. After several weeks of rehab, Deidre will undergo proton radiation treatments for the meningioma tumors in her cavernous sinus for approximately four weeks. There’s potential for her to return home after that to continue healing, but with the knowledge that any setbacks or need for additional help will keep her in NYC longer or bring her back there.

Without this surgery, rehab, and radiation, Deidre would lose eyesight in both eyes from the progression of the tumors. A stroke would be likely because of the tumor wrapped around her carotid artery. But with these medical treatments, Deidre has an excellent chance of getting back to her adored family, time with her friends, and the work and dogs that she loves. She’ll need special eyeglasses and close medical monitoring the rest of her life.

Deidre is facing all of this with her characteristic bravery, determination, and wacky humor, but there are many hurdles in front of her. We created this GoFundMe campaign to help ease the tremendous financial burden on Deidre and her family and all the stress that comes with that. 

All of this will cost Deidre and her family significantly. While Deidre does have medical insurance, the deductibles and many out-of-pocket treatment-related expenses will be significant and ongoing. In the meantime, she will need to keep up with her business expenses, such as the loan and insurance on her mobile grooming van. She has a mortgage and other house expenses, as well as wanting to help Jack keep up with participating in high school extracurricular activities that will help him feel better through all of this.

This fundraising will also help ease Deidre’s mind about how bills will get paid so she can focus on healing and getting back to her regular life among family and friends, as well as her caring work with dogs and their people.

We humbly ask for this help for Deidre and if you could share a link to this fundraiser with friends, family, and colleagues, including on social media.

From the bottom of our hearts we thank you for your support. We will keep everyone posted with Deidre’s progress!

Sincerely,

Donna Hafner and Diane Tennison (Deidre’s sisters), Ame Lewis, Rian Martin, and Julie Rosa