Help Erin with her Pancreatic Cancer Journey
Donation protected
Hi I’m BJ Norell and I’ve been friends with Rick and Erin Benevento for over 30 years. We all grew up doing gymnastics together and I wanted to help them out in a time of need.
Erin was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer back in April of 2018 and it completely rocked their world. Since that diagnosis, Erin had to stop working as she needed her energy to fight through months of chemo then radiation. Her chemo routine was every other week for 4 months with the strongest chemo that her body could handle, and it took a toll on her. She would spend a week in bed after each treatment just to get through the exhaustion and nausea that is so common with chemo. After many long sessions and recovery, she would be right back to infusion for another round. Her determination and grit to continue her fight was incredible.
After 2 months of chemo, the tumor was shrinking, but there were cells encasing her main celiac artery that were not responding so she moved to radiation. She had treatment Monday through Friday for 5 ½ weeks which really zapped her energy and caused severe nausea as her stomach was zapped with each treatment due to its proximity to the pancreas. Many times, during treatment, she would break down, but would bounce back stronger and more determined than ever. The main goal after treatment was the obvious, get the cells to shrink and pull away from the arteries so she could have surgery. The only reason they went forward was she was young and strong, and they knew she could endure it. Erin and Rick were both elated and scared knowing the consequences of this surgery involving three main arteries was life threatening.
On Jan 29th, 2019 Erin went through a successful surgery to remove the tennis ball size tumor. The doctors also had to repair 3 main arteries that were compromised by cancer cells; the celiac artery, the main stomach artery, and liver artery. The procedure was 12 hours long. It was a very intense and massive surgery. Her surgeon called it, a “mother of surgeries.” This left her in ICU for 3 days followed by 7 days in the hospital to recover. It was all successful and the pathology reports have yielded a negative margin, which means NO CANCER! She has fought off one of the scariest cancers with a very low survival rate and she is on the other side!
Rick and Erin once again have a future together and it would be nice if they didn’t have to worry about the mounting medical bills that have piled up during this stressful journey. If you’ve been through a medical crisis, you understand that they have been incurring some major medical bills over the past year, especially with Erin unable to work.
A lot of people have asked “how we can help,” but it’s hard for Erin and Rick to ask for help. They are very humble people, and this is something I wanted to do to help them. Erin's daughter is moving to South Korea to teach English for a year and it would be an amazing surprise if we can help take care of their medical bills with a little extra to send Erin on her first overseas "celebration" vacation to see her daughter. I know this would mean the world to Erin and Rick and without the continued support of Erin’s Army, this journey might not have the same outcome. Any little bit will help and I’m thankful for their friendship and I know they will be so very thankful too.
***Another thing you can do to help, other than donate, is share this message with someone***
Erin was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer back in April of 2018 and it completely rocked their world. Since that diagnosis, Erin had to stop working as she needed her energy to fight through months of chemo then radiation. Her chemo routine was every other week for 4 months with the strongest chemo that her body could handle, and it took a toll on her. She would spend a week in bed after each treatment just to get through the exhaustion and nausea that is so common with chemo. After many long sessions and recovery, she would be right back to infusion for another round. Her determination and grit to continue her fight was incredible.
After 2 months of chemo, the tumor was shrinking, but there were cells encasing her main celiac artery that were not responding so she moved to radiation. She had treatment Monday through Friday for 5 ½ weeks which really zapped her energy and caused severe nausea as her stomach was zapped with each treatment due to its proximity to the pancreas. Many times, during treatment, she would break down, but would bounce back stronger and more determined than ever. The main goal after treatment was the obvious, get the cells to shrink and pull away from the arteries so she could have surgery. The only reason they went forward was she was young and strong, and they knew she could endure it. Erin and Rick were both elated and scared knowing the consequences of this surgery involving three main arteries was life threatening.
On Jan 29th, 2019 Erin went through a successful surgery to remove the tennis ball size tumor. The doctors also had to repair 3 main arteries that were compromised by cancer cells; the celiac artery, the main stomach artery, and liver artery. The procedure was 12 hours long. It was a very intense and massive surgery. Her surgeon called it, a “mother of surgeries.” This left her in ICU for 3 days followed by 7 days in the hospital to recover. It was all successful and the pathology reports have yielded a negative margin, which means NO CANCER! She has fought off one of the scariest cancers with a very low survival rate and she is on the other side!
Rick and Erin once again have a future together and it would be nice if they didn’t have to worry about the mounting medical bills that have piled up during this stressful journey. If you’ve been through a medical crisis, you understand that they have been incurring some major medical bills over the past year, especially with Erin unable to work.
A lot of people have asked “how we can help,” but it’s hard for Erin and Rick to ask for help. They are very humble people, and this is something I wanted to do to help them. Erin's daughter is moving to South Korea to teach English for a year and it would be an amazing surprise if we can help take care of their medical bills with a little extra to send Erin on her first overseas "celebration" vacation to see her daughter. I know this would mean the world to Erin and Rick and without the continued support of Erin’s Army, this journey might not have the same outcome. Any little bit will help and I’m thankful for their friendship and I know they will be so very thankful too.
***Another thing you can do to help, other than donate, is share this message with someone***
Organizer and beneficiary
Bj Norell
Organizer
Lake Oswego, OR
Rick Benevento
Beneficiary