32 year old with stage 4 appendix cancer

1 in a million people get appendix cancer. There are currently 3 people in the state of Utah with this type of cancer and 32 year old Stefani Norton is one of them. 

Along with this shock of Stage 4 appendix cancer, is the 9 month horrific journey it took to finally have answers. Multiple misdiagnoses and puzzled doctors have led to a lot of unnecessary expenses and wasted time curing a cancer they thought she had (more about that is her story below)

I have known Stefani for over 25 years. She is truly one of the most giving people I have ever met and the past few years have been the absolute worst for her. Her mom survived lung cancer, her dad passed away, and now she is fighting for her life. 

After hearing more about her journey a few
weeks ago, I asked her point blank - "How are you paying for this?" Her answer... "I am going into debt".  A year of medical expenses are piling up quickly.

I asked Stefani if I could do this for her, since
I knew she would never EVER ask anyone...
for anything.

She is the giving kind, and now it's time for us to give back. 

If you can spare any money this holiday season,
please use it to help Stefani out. I am hoping we can reach our goal (MAYBE MORE!) by Christmas Eve and provide a Christmas miracle to the most deserving human being.

I have asked Stefani to share her traumatic story, 

"January 14, 2019 I had excruciating pain in my abdomen and back that would not go away. My mom and sister took me to St. Marks Hospital ER. When we got there an IV was started and pain meds were given with no relief. They did an abdomen CT Scan with contrast to see what was going on. The Dr. came in and let me know that I had gall stones that were blocking my bile ducts. They said I could go home and find someone to do the surgery or they could admit me and have a Dr. do the surgery sometime the next day.

My family and I decided on being admitted and having surgery the next day. The surgery was the next night January 15, 2019 after 8 P.M. I stayed one day in the hospital and then went home. As the days went by I just didn’t get any better. I had the most horrendous pain EVER. I was constantly nauseous and throwing up.

My family took me back to the ER 4 different times. They didn’t know what was wrong. I was told something different each time. Things like:  It was from the surgery and it would go away, or it was muscle skeletal in my back and so muscle relaxers were given. Another time they said it was constipation and suggested stool softeners.

The ER doctors wanted me to see a Gastroenterologist to see if they could figure out the abdominal pain. So after 6 weeks of no answers and lots of pain, I had an appointment with a GI Dr. and an OBGYN.
The GI Dr. didn’t know what to do with me and the OBGYN did a pap smear and gave me birth control pills to try and regulate my periods. While he was doing the exam he said he had some tissue he wanted to send off and would call me back in a week with the results.

He called me that Friday and told me I had cancer. I was in shock. He didn’t know what kind it was that further testing needed to be done. He wasn’t sure if it was Cervical, Ovarian, Uterine or Endometrial Cancer.

He sent me to a Gynecological OBGYN at St. Marks Hospital, Dr. Karen Zempolich. My mom and both sisters went with me as Dr. Z did an exam and drew us a picture of what was going on with me. She gave me a diagnosis of Stage 2b Cervical Cancer. Her recommendation was to immediately start external Radiation and a Chemotherapy combination. She let us know that this Cancer is curable. That was a huge relief for my family and me.

My family and I met with Dr. Avizonis, a Radiation Oncologist to go over everything and to start External Radiation process. They did the mapping on my body, I ended up having 25 external radiation treatments to my lower abdomen. During this time I also met with Dr. William Nibley who is my Medical Oncologist. He gave me 5 IV Chemotherapy treatments that were over 5 hours long. The chemo concoction didn’t cause me to lose my hair, but it has thinned it out tremendously.

After the 25 external radiation treatments they did a CT Scan to check the tumor and see how the treatments responded. They were able to see that it wasn’t as successful as they had hoped for. The next treatment would then be internal radiation.

I met with Dr. Thomas Skidmore to go over everything. He recommended that I have Brachytherapy with him. I went to the OR and he placed a Tantum and Ring inside my Cervix and then Radiated it inside. The DR. noticed it was not getting all of the tumor. The tumor was too big and facing my back, so something else needed to be done. He then set me up for Internal Radiation Brachytherapy. I had 3 internal radiation treatments with him. These treatments were hard and extremely painful.

I was in the hospital for 2 weeks in June with an infection and pain.

They couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me so they scheduled exploratory surgery on July 1, 2019. After the surgery the Dr. said she had found a new kind of cancer in my Abdomen. It was a mucous kind of cancer. I’ve needed IV fluids once or twice a week because my levels were too low.

On September 6 my Dr. called me to let me know that I needed to go to the ER right at that moment. My kidney function was so low that I might need dialysis. I was admitted to St. Marks Hospital that night. The next day Dr. Fischer did emergency surgery to place stents in each kidney. They said my kidneys were blocked and damaged from all of the Radiation.

I was in the hospital for a week.

After that I was well enough to get a port placed in my chest. That was done in the Radiology department and went smoothly with no complications. They also wanted us to go to Huntsman Cancer Hospital.

We met with Dr. Laura Lambert and she told us that I actually had Appendix Cancer that has spread to the stomach and cervix. The cervical Cancer treatments wouldn’t take away the cancer because it was not the primary source of Cancer. It was wasted time and energy, because it was all coming from the Appendix.

It is now a stage 4 due to it being in multiple places. Dr. Lambert talked with us about needing to meet with an OBGYN, Dr. Kathryn Harris who will be assisting Dr. Lambert with my next surgery. They also wanted me to go back to Dr. Nibley and start a different kind of Chemotherapy that is specifically for Appendix Cancer.

I will be doing 8 total treatments of this Folfox Chemo. Once the Chemo is done I will need to be off it for a month and then they will do my next surgery. They will be doing a Hipec Surgery. This is a heated chemo they will wash throughout my abdomen and leave it there for 90 min. Then take it out and remove my Appendix, do a Hysterectomy and remove any other tumors they can. It’s usually over a 12 hour surgery and then I’ll be in ICU for 3 days and reg. room for 10 days or more.

Two weeks ago I thought I had started my period, but it was getting worse and I was getting weaker by the minute. My family took me to the ER and I was hemorrhaging. I was admitted to the ICU for 6 days. They gave me 3 units of blood. The bleeding slowly stopped, so I was able to go home.

Those are just the facts, on a personal note, 
I have had 13 blood transfusions in 7 months. I have never been so sick in my life. The pain in my body has been so horrible at times.

Even with all of the pain I have experienced, I have had amazing blessings during the journey that have helped my family and me to not give up.

It has been a long, hard and crazy year this year."