My name is Brydie and I'm raising funds for a very special person in my life. Recently, my friend Gretchen (Goltz) Conway was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The funds raised will go towards medical expenses, travel expenses and any incidentals needed to help her get through treatment.

Gretchen and family met with Oncology on 5/7/24 at Mayo Clinic. In short, she is looking at 6 months of chemo, two month check-ins, and surgery following chemo. All of this will begin once her current pancreatic infection clears up.

Gretchen is a mother of 5. She is currently a third grade teacher at St. Theresa of Calcutta Catholic School in Ossian, Ia. She is not one to ask for help so I'm asking for donations for her and her family during this difficult time. Thank you.

Update: 9/3/24

The plan Gretchen has for her battle is six months of chemotherapy. If the chemotherapy is doing what it is supposed to do, she would then have surgery at the end of that six months. The first three months went smoothly and the surgeon has said the tumor is shrinking.

Gretchen then went in for her August 12th appointment and found our her neutrophils (help fight off infection) were too low so she could not receive her chemotherapy treatment that day. It is now September, and the numbers have not risen enough to receive chemotherapy for over a month now.

During this time, Gretchen prepared to return to work. She is an elementary teacher. She made it two day with students before the anxiety of the missed chemotherapy appointments, the fear of being around sickness when her body is not where it should be to fight sickness, and the realization that chemotherapy kicks your ass and causes you to feel fatigue that you have never felt before made her realize that returning to work isn't the right choice at this time.

Gretchen is currently in the process of filing for disability while she continues the fight with cancer.