Help her Fight: Maricka v Rhabdomyosarcoma

Hello to everyone reading!

This message is a GoFundMe appeal on behalf of my dear sister and best friend, Maricka Oglesby.


After a long bout of gynecological concerns beginning in 2015, Maricka learned that her body had grown very aggressive and rare malignant cells called Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma. This sarcoma is exceedingly rare for her age since it is found primarily in children. It was found (very early) in her cervix and hopefully mostly removed by radical hysterectomy in April 2019 at the age of 44.

Treatments are not widely studied in her (rare) age group and treatment is being figured out as the weeks progress. Doctors, board groups, and consultants have decided that the best hope of making sure these cells don’t reoccur is to undergo chemotherapy adapted for a person of her age. This type of cancer is commonly nicknamed “The Beast” and requires aggressive and routine therapy that means a lot of expenses and support. With your love and guidance, we will successfully tame and temper this life-threatening disease.

Many people around us have received this dreaded diagnosis, but little is understood about how to appropriately treat and/or cure. We are fortunate to know that Maricka is in a very favorable category. However, the aggressive nature of rhabdomyosarcoma, especially in adults, means that medical experts will not waste time to provide the best preventative measures. Chemo is intense, invasive, and very often debilitating.

Maricka’s treatments involve a 42-week cycle of tri-weekly appointments. She checks into the facility at Hopkins hospital every three weeks for an overnight, inpatient treatment that includes 16 plus hours of necessary hydration, steroid organ protection, anti-nausea medication and intensely strong chemo drugs.

The treatments themselves only take two days, but the recovery side effects are often unpredictable with symptoms that range from extreme fatigue, mouth sores, neuropathy, hand weakness, decreased mental awareness, digestive disorders and extremely depressed moods.

In this GoFundMe, we as a family are reaching out to ask for help (because she is not the type to do so herself!). Any donations will go towards expenses related to the remainder of 29 weeks of treatment. At week 13 of 42, we have been able to assess the gap between what is covered by health care policy and what is not. This is a long-haul plan for a single mom!

Any donations will IMMEDIATELY cover:
- Medical expenses not covered by insurance (inpatient and outpatient co-pays, prescriptions, CT scans, and administrative fees) for the remainder of the treatment schedule (until May 2020)
- Unpaid time off (radical hysterectomy time ate up a lot of this time off, and recovery, follow up appointments, side-effect recovery time, etc., mental health and necessary childcare days)
- Travel, parking (Hopkins overnight parking voucher books), food, and incidentals related to treatment, recovery, and family expenses.

If you would like to support Maricka’s effort and want to contribute in any other ways, please let us know:
- Be a conduit for Cian’s experiences and learning. Mom wants the best for her boy. Giving him opportunities to have a great time when Mom is not well means the world for us!
- Be a Chemo Warrior – Volunteer get her to and from a treatment session
- Be a Chemo Sabe – Stay overnight at a chemo session. Magazines, card games, makeup, #selfcare, but not a lot of sleep. Nurses are awesome, except when they need to take your blood pressure at 3:00am.
- Be a Chemo Foodie – She REALLY, REALLY hates the hospital food. Bring breakfast or dinner and sit for a spell. #foodforthesoul

Thank you for reading and for your support. We will provide regular updates going forward. This victory will be won! ❤️