Help Heather Davenport fight bone cancer!
Donation protected
I am Heather Davenport's sister in law, Shannon Eggleston. I am doing this fundraiser because this family is a wonderful, hard working family that rarely, if ever, asks for help even when they REALLY need it. This is me, showing up for them to hopefully ease the burdens on their heavy plate.
Heather and Ryan are both teachers at the Washington County School District. Ryan teaches Math & Heather is a Special Education teacher. They share 3 boys together and reside in Santa Clara Utah.
HEATHER'S STORY
After running the St. George Marathon October 5th 2019 Heather started experiencing intense pain in her hip. It got so bad she couldn't tie her shoes and struggled with bending and moving. She sought out medical attention.
After her x-ray, CT scan, MRI and biopsy, they confirmed that Heather had a malignant tumor called Chondrosarcoma, a very rare form of bone cancer on her hip.
After the initial shock to her family (and all of us!) she started to learn her options. Chemo and Radiation have little to no effect on this type of bone cancer. Her only option was a highly specialized surgery to remove the tumor in it's entirety in hopes to increase Heather's chances of defeating it.
The good news was she got the best surgeon to perform the surgery because of the highly specialization required. On December 27th, she underwent a 15.5 hour surgery to fully remove the 3lb tumor. They had to remove the tumor, muscle, tendon connections, blood vessels and more from her hip!
Heather pulled through the surgery and the Doctor was pleased with the results. She was told there'd be a 1 in 4 chance of it returning. She was just relieved to be alive and still with her family!
After a twelve day hospital stay, she was sent home to continue her therapy and relearn how to walk and function safely. Her surgeon said the recovery could take up to a year and that her hip will most likely never be a running hip.. Although he said he would love her to prove him wrong.
Eight months later, she still walks with a bit of a limp and muscle function is slowly returning. She may move slower than she's used to and there are things she cannot do, but is grateful for the recovery she's made so far and works everyday to continue to get stronger. She still has aspirations of running again and with her spirit I guarantee you, she will do ALL she can to do just that!
THE STRAIN
Heather's surgery is a HUGE BLESSING to her family BUT being highly specialized the cost is high. Her surgery plus the cost of her 12 day hospital stay is near $130,000! Being teachers, insurance is helping but they are getting bills now in the thousands.
There isn't a light at the end of this tunnel unfortunately with all the continued scans and REHAB she has done/ will have to do so we looking to help them put a dent into the Surgery bill & hospital stay when they removed her tumor.
<ALL FUNDS WILL GO TOWARDS THESE EXPENSES>
This isn't the typical tragic Go Fund Me, because we are dealing with a young woman who is a fighter and will continue this fight to stay here with her family and to live her life! She is courageous spirit, joking with her doctors under such extraordinary frustration of not being able to take care of her kids or live her life as she once did. Everything is modified, yet she is overwhelmed with gratitude.
If you know her, or see her around, you may not even notice she's been through anything other than the limp she now walks with. She will probably smile, and offer to help you in some way. THAT is the kind of person she is.
This is a sincere plea for help for a family who gives to their church, their community and works hard to provide for their family!
Thank you for your time and consideration! We all appreciate it so much!
PLEASE DONATE WHATEVER YOU CAN (every little bit helps) OR SHARE!
Thank you again,
Shannon
.
Heather and Ryan are both teachers at the Washington County School District. Ryan teaches Math & Heather is a Special Education teacher. They share 3 boys together and reside in Santa Clara Utah.
HEATHER'S STORY
After running the St. George Marathon October 5th 2019 Heather started experiencing intense pain in her hip. It got so bad she couldn't tie her shoes and struggled with bending and moving. She sought out medical attention.
After her x-ray, CT scan, MRI and biopsy, they confirmed that Heather had a malignant tumor called Chondrosarcoma, a very rare form of bone cancer on her hip.
After the initial shock to her family (and all of us!) she started to learn her options. Chemo and Radiation have little to no effect on this type of bone cancer. Her only option was a highly specialized surgery to remove the tumor in it's entirety in hopes to increase Heather's chances of defeating it.
The good news was she got the best surgeon to perform the surgery because of the highly specialization required. On December 27th, she underwent a 15.5 hour surgery to fully remove the 3lb tumor. They had to remove the tumor, muscle, tendon connections, blood vessels and more from her hip!
Heather pulled through the surgery and the Doctor was pleased with the results. She was told there'd be a 1 in 4 chance of it returning. She was just relieved to be alive and still with her family!
After a twelve day hospital stay, she was sent home to continue her therapy and relearn how to walk and function safely. Her surgeon said the recovery could take up to a year and that her hip will most likely never be a running hip.. Although he said he would love her to prove him wrong.
Eight months later, she still walks with a bit of a limp and muscle function is slowly returning. She may move slower than she's used to and there are things she cannot do, but is grateful for the recovery she's made so far and works everyday to continue to get stronger. She still has aspirations of running again and with her spirit I guarantee you, she will do ALL she can to do just that!
THE STRAIN
Heather's surgery is a HUGE BLESSING to her family BUT being highly specialized the cost is high. Her surgery plus the cost of her 12 day hospital stay is near $130,000! Being teachers, insurance is helping but they are getting bills now in the thousands.
There isn't a light at the end of this tunnel unfortunately with all the continued scans and REHAB she has done/ will have to do so we looking to help them put a dent into the Surgery bill & hospital stay when they removed her tumor.
<ALL FUNDS WILL GO TOWARDS THESE EXPENSES>
This isn't the typical tragic Go Fund Me, because we are dealing with a young woman who is a fighter and will continue this fight to stay here with her family and to live her life! She is courageous spirit, joking with her doctors under such extraordinary frustration of not being able to take care of her kids or live her life as she once did. Everything is modified, yet she is overwhelmed with gratitude.
If you know her, or see her around, you may not even notice she's been through anything other than the limp she now walks with. She will probably smile, and offer to help you in some way. THAT is the kind of person she is.
This is a sincere plea for help for a family who gives to their church, their community and works hard to provide for their family!
Thank you for your time and consideration! We all appreciate it so much!
PLEASE DONATE WHATEVER YOU CAN (every little bit helps) OR SHARE!
Thank you again,
Shannon
.
Organizer and beneficiary
Shannon Eggleston
Organizer
Santa Clara, UT
Heather Davenport
Beneficiary