Help Connie In Her Fight Against Lung Cancer!
Donation protected
Connie has held many titles in her life... Daughter, Sister, Best Friend, Wife, Mom, Mrs. S, and most recently Grammy!
On April 26th, after getting an MRI due to severe hip pain, we had to add one more title to her list; Cancer Patient. This news came as a shock to Mom and to our family. Once we discovered Mom had metastasized cancer in her bones, she had an emergency CT scan, and on Wednesday, April 27th, the doctors confirmed that Mom the cancer had not only metastasized to her bones, but also to her liver, lymph nodes, adrenal glands and a large mass near her esophagus. Mom went from thinking she might need hip surgery to being diagnosed after a slew of tests and several biopsies with Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma, non-small-cell lung cancer.
On May 26th Mom received the best news we've had so far on this scary journey. Mom's molecular study identified the genetic marker of her cancer and she has tested positive to the ALK mutation, meaning that she can receive targeted drug therapy. ALK has the best-targeted drug therapy of all the mutations, with some of the best outcomes! We were so happy to have this news!
The next day on May 27th, Mom had a devastating blow to her cancer journey, Mom had a stroke while cooking dinner with Jim, our Dad. She has a clot in one of the arteries in her brain and another clot in her lungs. She is not a candidate for the clot-busting drug, because of her brain lesions, so they are treating her with blood thinners. The doctors have let us know that we will not know the extent of damage nor what is permanent or what can be recovered from the stroke for some time. So until then, we are focusing on supporting Mom in healing so she can continue to fight. She has a long journey ahead of her.
Obviously, this is a big setback and it is very scary. My sister, Vanessa and I have created this page to support both Mom and Dad. As of right now Mom needs to continue her radiation treatments while still in the hospital, she will need to be transported for each treatment by ambulance (At least 12 ambulance trips). Additionally Mom's ALK drug treatment has an out of pocket cost that could be over $25,000 a year. We have received some financial support for her drug treatment for now but we know that this will be an additional financial burden. We also currently do not know what Mom's recovery/treatment journey will be now that she has had this stroke.
Our hope is to raise funds that can support Jim and Connie and relieve any additional stress so that they can both focus on what is actually important, getting Mom well and fighting this cancer.
In all aspects of her life, Connie has made it her priority to take care of those around her; her family, friends, students and coworkers. We want to make it our priority now to take care of her when she needs it the most. We are hoping for a miracle and another change in title, one with more hope, we are all praying to get to call Mom a Cancer Survivor.
Thank you to all those who are supporting her near and far. If you haven't started to follow her journey feel free to visit her site on Caring Bridge for updates: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/connieschreckengast
On April 26th, after getting an MRI due to severe hip pain, we had to add one more title to her list; Cancer Patient. This news came as a shock to Mom and to our family. Once we discovered Mom had metastasized cancer in her bones, she had an emergency CT scan, and on Wednesday, April 27th, the doctors confirmed that Mom the cancer had not only metastasized to her bones, but also to her liver, lymph nodes, adrenal glands and a large mass near her esophagus. Mom went from thinking she might need hip surgery to being diagnosed after a slew of tests and several biopsies with Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma, non-small-cell lung cancer.
On May 26th Mom received the best news we've had so far on this scary journey. Mom's molecular study identified the genetic marker of her cancer and she has tested positive to the ALK mutation, meaning that she can receive targeted drug therapy. ALK has the best-targeted drug therapy of all the mutations, with some of the best outcomes! We were so happy to have this news!
The next day on May 27th, Mom had a devastating blow to her cancer journey, Mom had a stroke while cooking dinner with Jim, our Dad. She has a clot in one of the arteries in her brain and another clot in her lungs. She is not a candidate for the clot-busting drug, because of her brain lesions, so they are treating her with blood thinners. The doctors have let us know that we will not know the extent of damage nor what is permanent or what can be recovered from the stroke for some time. So until then, we are focusing on supporting Mom in healing so she can continue to fight. She has a long journey ahead of her.
Obviously, this is a big setback and it is very scary. My sister, Vanessa and I have created this page to support both Mom and Dad. As of right now Mom needs to continue her radiation treatments while still in the hospital, she will need to be transported for each treatment by ambulance (At least 12 ambulance trips). Additionally Mom's ALK drug treatment has an out of pocket cost that could be over $25,000 a year. We have received some financial support for her drug treatment for now but we know that this will be an additional financial burden. We also currently do not know what Mom's recovery/treatment journey will be now that she has had this stroke.
Our hope is to raise funds that can support Jim and Connie and relieve any additional stress so that they can both focus on what is actually important, getting Mom well and fighting this cancer.
In all aspects of her life, Connie has made it her priority to take care of those around her; her family, friends, students and coworkers. We want to make it our priority now to take care of her when she needs it the most. We are hoping for a miracle and another change in title, one with more hope, we are all praying to get to call Mom a Cancer Survivor.
Thank you to all those who are supporting her near and far. If you haven't started to follow her journey feel free to visit her site on Caring Bridge for updates: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/connieschreckengast
Thanks again,
Paige and Vanessa (Connie's daughters)
Paige and Vanessa (Connie's daughters)
Organizer and beneficiary
Paige Schreckengast
Organizer
Fort Collins, CO
James Schreckengast
Beneficiary