#From0toBrainTumor
Donation protected
What the heck happened?
Jaclyn literally went #from0tobraintumor. On June 7th, 2018 Jaclyn Adams made her way from San Diego, California to Nashville, Tennessee for the CMA Music Fest. Before even making it to her first official concert she literally hit the ground. After making her way to the hospital, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor (and a pretty stinkin' big one!). Not quite the party they were all expecting.
What the heck happened NEXT?
Jaclyn made her way home to Philly and began to be followed by the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's Neurosurgery Department. On June 22nd, 2018 she received brain surgery (shout out Dr. Brem!) to remove the tumor. The surgeon was able to remove the majority of the tumor, but some diseased cells remained inside Jaclyn's brain due to how close those cells were to extremely important parts of her brain that affect motor/sensory function. The surgeon did not want to risk removing those diseased cells at the expense of Jaclyn having permanent deficits.
...so was the brain tumor cancerous?
Jaclyn's brain tumor was officially read as a Grade 2 Astrocytoma. What makes a brain tumor "cancerous" or not isn't the type of tumor (the Astrocytoma part), but the classified Grade. The Grade (typically classified 1-4), describes how fast-growing (malignant/cancerous) the cells are, which directly correlates to the risk of having the tumor- that was just removed by surgery- grow back and impede Jaclyn's brain function. Though Jaclyn's tumor was officially termed on paper as a Grade 2 tumor, her doctors explained that the cells were already really beginning to resemble Grade 3 qualities (even more fast growing), and that bottom line, whether it was officially termed "Grade 2" or "Grade 3," a Grade 2 tumor (without treatment) will continue to progress to a higher grade regardless. Because of that, her doctors suggested that she move forward with radiation and chemotherapy in order to prevent the diseased cells that remain in Jaclyn's brain from growing back into another tumor or from impeding other parts of Jaclyn's brain.
Oh man. When will chemo and radiation start?
Jaclyn will begin treatment at the very beginning of October. Prior to that, she and her husband Justin are being re-stationed from San Diego, California to Virginia Beach, Virginia. So she is currently back in San Diego packing up their first home and preparing to move across the country. She will have 6 weeks of intensive treatment at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania beginning in October. Each day she will go in and receive out-patient chemo and radiation. At the culmination of those 6 weeks, she will then begin a chemotherapy regimen that she will take at home (well her "new home" of Virginia Beach) for the following year. She will continue to receive frequent MRI scans to monitor the status of the tumor cells left in her brain.
Is there anyway we can help?!
So much help has poured in and surrounded Jaclyn, Justin, and their family these last few months. There has been so many encouraging notes, meals prepared, dog-sitting offers, gifts, hospital visits, and SO MUCH MORE. They have been so overwhelmed with the generosity and all the support!
But there is something close to their heart that they would love help with. If you guys know either Jaclyn and/or Justin personally, you know they're pretty much the coolest people ever. Can you even imagine how cool their children will be? Pretty much the coolest.
Unfortunately, beginning this chemo and radiation treatment can possibly interfere with Jaclyn and Justin's ability to have biological children in the future. Therefore in order to do whatever they can to help keep their dream of having children of their own at some point in the future, they have decided to move forward with the egg harvesting process prior to Jaclyn beginning treatment in October. Luckily their medical insurance has helped them cover most of the medical expenses from the surgery and hospital stay up until now, but this procedure isn't covered at all. Jaclyn will undergo the egg harvesting process and procedure this September. Would you consider helping to ease the financial burden of this procedure? If so, your name will go into the pool of possibilities for their first kid's name (HA, I'm kidding, I didn't talk with them about that, but who knows! I'm not saying it's completely impossible).
How are they REALLY doing with all of this?
They both are complete studs, and in my opinion, real-life superheroes. They have taken all of this craziness in stride with REAL smiles on their faces- from Jaclyn's initial diagnosis, to Justin being pulled from his team in the middle of an overseas deployment, to brain surgery, to losing a lot more hair than was originally expected (and rocking a reverse mohawk and a pretty legit scar), to receiving hard news about the realities of future treatment, to having to pack up and move to the opposite coast in the midst of all of this, and to having to make decisions NOW that they weren't planning on making for years down the road.
Bottom line, Jaclyn and Justin know and trust in Jesus, and though they have wrestled with real and hard emotions, they believe that God is in control, and more importantly that He loves them, is with them, and knows what is best for them.
See... I told you they were the coolest. Let's help them make cool kids.
Jaclyn literally went #from0tobraintumor. On June 7th, 2018 Jaclyn Adams made her way from San Diego, California to Nashville, Tennessee for the CMA Music Fest. Before even making it to her first official concert she literally hit the ground. After making her way to the hospital, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor (and a pretty stinkin' big one!). Not quite the party they were all expecting.
What the heck happened NEXT?
Jaclyn made her way home to Philly and began to be followed by the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's Neurosurgery Department. On June 22nd, 2018 she received brain surgery (shout out Dr. Brem!) to remove the tumor. The surgeon was able to remove the majority of the tumor, but some diseased cells remained inside Jaclyn's brain due to how close those cells were to extremely important parts of her brain that affect motor/sensory function. The surgeon did not want to risk removing those diseased cells at the expense of Jaclyn having permanent deficits.
...so was the brain tumor cancerous?
Jaclyn's brain tumor was officially read as a Grade 2 Astrocytoma. What makes a brain tumor "cancerous" or not isn't the type of tumor (the Astrocytoma part), but the classified Grade. The Grade (typically classified 1-4), describes how fast-growing (malignant/cancerous) the cells are, which directly correlates to the risk of having the tumor- that was just removed by surgery- grow back and impede Jaclyn's brain function. Though Jaclyn's tumor was officially termed on paper as a Grade 2 tumor, her doctors explained that the cells were already really beginning to resemble Grade 3 qualities (even more fast growing), and that bottom line, whether it was officially termed "Grade 2" or "Grade 3," a Grade 2 tumor (without treatment) will continue to progress to a higher grade regardless. Because of that, her doctors suggested that she move forward with radiation and chemotherapy in order to prevent the diseased cells that remain in Jaclyn's brain from growing back into another tumor or from impeding other parts of Jaclyn's brain.
Oh man. When will chemo and radiation start?
Jaclyn will begin treatment at the very beginning of October. Prior to that, she and her husband Justin are being re-stationed from San Diego, California to Virginia Beach, Virginia. So she is currently back in San Diego packing up their first home and preparing to move across the country. She will have 6 weeks of intensive treatment at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania beginning in October. Each day she will go in and receive out-patient chemo and radiation. At the culmination of those 6 weeks, she will then begin a chemotherapy regimen that she will take at home (well her "new home" of Virginia Beach) for the following year. She will continue to receive frequent MRI scans to monitor the status of the tumor cells left in her brain.
Is there anyway we can help?!
So much help has poured in and surrounded Jaclyn, Justin, and their family these last few months. There has been so many encouraging notes, meals prepared, dog-sitting offers, gifts, hospital visits, and SO MUCH MORE. They have been so overwhelmed with the generosity and all the support!
But there is something close to their heart that they would love help with. If you guys know either Jaclyn and/or Justin personally, you know they're pretty much the coolest people ever. Can you even imagine how cool their children will be? Pretty much the coolest.
Unfortunately, beginning this chemo and radiation treatment can possibly interfere with Jaclyn and Justin's ability to have biological children in the future. Therefore in order to do whatever they can to help keep their dream of having children of their own at some point in the future, they have decided to move forward with the egg harvesting process prior to Jaclyn beginning treatment in October. Luckily their medical insurance has helped them cover most of the medical expenses from the surgery and hospital stay up until now, but this procedure isn't covered at all. Jaclyn will undergo the egg harvesting process and procedure this September. Would you consider helping to ease the financial burden of this procedure? If so, your name will go into the pool of possibilities for their first kid's name (HA, I'm kidding, I didn't talk with them about that, but who knows! I'm not saying it's completely impossible).
How are they REALLY doing with all of this?
They both are complete studs, and in my opinion, real-life superheroes. They have taken all of this craziness in stride with REAL smiles on their faces- from Jaclyn's initial diagnosis, to Justin being pulled from his team in the middle of an overseas deployment, to brain surgery, to losing a lot more hair than was originally expected (and rocking a reverse mohawk and a pretty legit scar), to receiving hard news about the realities of future treatment, to having to pack up and move to the opposite coast in the midst of all of this, and to having to make decisions NOW that they weren't planning on making for years down the road.
Bottom line, Jaclyn and Justin know and trust in Jesus, and though they have wrestled with real and hard emotions, they believe that God is in control, and more importantly that He loves them, is with them, and knows what is best for them.
See... I told you they were the coolest. Let's help them make cool kids.
Organizer and beneficiary
Emily Kate
Organizer
Annapolis, MD
Jaclyn Adams
Beneficiary
