Help Amie And Her Family

On October 11, 2021 Amie was diagnosed with Large B-Cell Lymphoma after having some heartburn that wouldnt go away. Through seeing her regular doctor and a regular exam, the doctor felt a mass on her liver. Her doctor moved swiftly to order additional testing and it was discovered that she had a mass the size of a personal watermelon on her liver. In the early days of discovering she had cancer, she had many tests that needed to be done to ensure the cancer had not spread. Through all of this testing, it was discovered that she did have a couple spots in her abdomen that it had spread to. Thankfully though, it was determined through a spinal tap and bone marrow biopsy that it had not spread to her spinal column or bones. It was determined that Amie would need 6 rounds of chemo that would be delivered every 3 weeks.

 

Amie had her first round of chemo (called R-CHOP for short) on November 1, 2021, and did quite well. She was pretty tired after the first couple of days, but didnt have alot of nausea or vomiting and we were all so thankful for that. She was and still is determined to kick cancers ass.

 

Amie started not feeling well the week of Thanksgiving but thought it was just a cold. It turns out she had contracted COVID but is unsure where. They delayed her chemo treatment just a couple days this time and she had her second round of chemo Nov 26th. This time around, because she had no immune system from the first round of chemo her body didnt handle it quite as well. She had gotten very weak and was sleeping alot, and also still had COVID that no one knew about.

 

Eventually Amie started coughing and running a fever which qualified her for automatic admission to the hospital because of her fever. Amie was in the hospital for 5 days in early December for treatment for COVID and pheumonia and unfortunately was sent home too quickly. She was re-admitted to the hospital on December 18th when they discovered her pneumonia was worse. She was treated with multiple doses of different antibiotics and was put on a hi-flow nasal canula for supplemental oxygen. Amie progressively got worse and ended up on 40 liters of oxygen (which is the max amount allowed before being intubated). We are so thankful she did not need to be intubated and was remaining stable.

 

Amie is feeling better now however any time she gets up to move her oxygen levels tank down in to the 70's and she has to sit down again. This has made it much more difficult to recover as she is limited on movement and isnt able to regain the strength she had before getting sick. The dr's dont understand or know why her oxygen levels keep dropping and have since done some additional tests this week. They think that the right ventricle of her heart is dialated, due to COVID, and do not think the damage will be permanent. She will be undergoing a procedure to check the pressure in her heart tomorrow, 1/14, to determine if she has pulmonary hypertension. Once the dr's fully understand the condition of her heart, they can put together a treatment plan to get her home and recovering and gaining her strength back.

 

However, these turn of events have also meant that her chemo treatments have been delayed until she is stronger. She will still need 4 more rounds of chemo once she is cleared for that treatment to resume. We know that her chemo treatments will get harder and harder on her body as well.

 

Throughout all of this, my mom was able to go down to Florida and be with her, Bjorn and Britt for Thanksgiving. We had not intended on her staying down there, but at this point she is there to help take care of the kids until Amie is done with all of her treatment.  My mom does go to see her every couple days because the hospital is about 45 minutes from their house.  My mom is continuing to keep Bjorn and Britt in as normal of a schedule as possible.  Bjorn and Britt have also not been able to visit their mom in the hospital so it has been almost a month since they have been able to see her or hug her. 

 

Additionally, there have been delays with her leave of absence paperwork being processed and at this time there is no income being received. 

 

Amie has been so strong and resilient throughout all of this and has really wanted to keep things private and hasn't wanted to ask anyone for help, but she is starting to realize she doesnt have to do everything herself and her friends and family love her and want to support her any way they can.  Amie is very determined to get strong and get out of the hospital as soon as she can.  

 

Our family is asking for any support you can help provide for Amie and the kids. Funds would be used to pay regular household bills, medical bills, gas, groceries, etc. We know this will be a long process and hope to help sustain Amie and the kids financially until she is finished with her cancer treatment and in remission. 

Thank you!