Help Amanda fight a rare brain cancer

Hi, my name is Tara, and I'm raising funds for my daughter Amanda and her husband, Corey Young.

 

Amanda was diagnosed on December 6th, 2021 with a late stage II Oligodendroglioma primary central nervous system tumor that starts in the brain or spinal cord. Oligodendroglioma is currently an incurable disease and the chances that it will recure and eventually progress is very high. Some people have a recurrence in two years and some in ten years.  Catching the cancer early and starting treatment is the best way to prolong her life. People with stage II of this kind of cancer live an average of twelve years after diagnosis. Oligodendrogliomas are a rare type of brain tumors and affect approximately 0.3 per 100,000 persons. The tumors accounted for 4 % to 15% of gliomas and 2 to 5% of all primary brain tumors. 

 

Amanda was sleeping on October 14th, 2021, when she had a grand mal seizure. The 911 call alerted EMS and the fire department. She was rushed to Memorial Herman Hospital Emergency room. The ER doctors immediately had a brain CT done, and she was admitted to the Neurology Department that evening. The Neurology team consulted with her for seizure control and additional testing that she needed. The next day she had a series of MRA's and MRIs of her brain and neck, where they found a mass in the frontal lobe of her brain. The team discussed options and concluded that she would have to have a biopsy to tell if it was a mass or a possible infection.

 

The biopsy procedure was scheduled for the next week, and my terrified daughter went under for the first time. It was supposed to be a two-hour procedure for a simple bur hole. The Neurosurgeon decided that she was doing so well under anesthesia that he could retrieve five excisions/biopsies of the right insula mass taking almost five hours. The Neurosurgeon at Memorial Herman sent the surgical pathology specimens 1 through 3 to the Neuropathology Department at UT pathology for consultation. She was referred to a Neurologist at UT Physicians for chemo and diagnosis. She was also referred the Neurosurgeon one of five in the world who could possibly remove her tumor.

 

Amanda was supposed to start her new job the day after her seizure. Unfortunately, she did not have health insurance at that time. Amanda and Corey were waiting for open enrollment to get medical coverage starting in December. Amanda consulted with the head Neurosurgeon at MD Anderson on January 5th after his team confirmed her diagnosis. Amanda will have surgery coming up in about twenty days at MD Anderson. She will have to have two rounds of radiation therapy chemotherapy and continue to have regular MRIs every 3 to 4 months for the rest of her life.

 

Amanda has not and will not be able to work, and she cannot drive due to her seizure's. Her husband is carrying all of the financial responsibilities with some help from family. Thankfully she has insurance, but it is inferior because she is the spouse, and the company that Corey works for is a very small business. She has a high deductible and high out of pocket and I can only do so much for her financially. It is very urgent financially for Amanda to be able to pay for the upcoming surgery and other procedures. We need everyone's help; please pray for her and her recovery.

A little back story on Amanda and Corey, they were 17 days away from their first wedding anniversary when she had her seizure. We have been working on the perfect wedding for 4 years. Due to the Pandemic, in 2019 we were unable to have the wedding at the Texas Renaissance festival and had to delay it to October 31st, 2021. They decided to go to Colorado and have a small family wedding at the Shining hotel because of the specific. Unfortunately, Estes Park caught on fire, and we had to move the wedding venue again to Dillon Colorado.  So fast forward to this year and our anticipation for the wedding it did not go as we thought it would. We were all stuck in traffic for over an hour, at least 30 min just to go three miles. When we got there the festival had moved up the time for the wedding causing all of the wedding party to be late. They kindly moved the wedding time to 5 pm that day but Amanda was so sick she was not able to wait, and we had to leave for her health.  Financially my husband and I lost over 5000 dollars that day that was just for the venue not including everything else that was paid for and that is why I am asking for help.

 

Thank you greatly, humbly, sincerely, and kindly,

Tara