Help Jonna Beauregard Beat Brain Cancer
Donation protected
Friends, family, and whoever else this may reach, my name is Caity Capecci and I am saddened to say the last few weeks have changed my entire family’s life. My mom, Jonna Beauregard has been diagnosed with terminal Glioblastoma Brain Cancer. It’s hard to find the words to say what we’ve been through during a time that is already a global pandemic and crisis for everyone. My mom is the mother of 3 children, 2 stepkids, a loving wife and all around the best person I know.
We were beyond shocked when what we thought was a migraine, ended up being two brain tumors in early April. As shocking as this all was, nothing was worse than my mom having to go through this emergency surgery completely alone. Due to COVID-19, ZERO of her family members were able to visit her in the hospital while she waited for the surgery. It was the hardest thing watching her in the hospital alone during the scariest time in someone’s life. Take note, my mom is a complete badass and refused to sit in a hospital bed alone, so she started walking, some may say Forest Gump style. I don’t know a single person who has walked a full marathon inside the hospital- 26.2 miles- while awaiting brain surgery, but she did. That’s just the kind of person she is, a fighter, always proving people wrong.
She received brain surgery on Monday April 6th and they were able to get 95% of the tumors out, thanks to the amazing staff at MGH and her surgeon, Dr. Nahed. While we are thankful she got the best possible care, the diagnosis has not been what we had hoped for. The doctors diagnosed the tumors as glioblastoma- the highest grade brain tumors that are very aggressive. It was a blow to our family when the doctors said the average life expectancy is 18 months. The treatment will be radiation and chemo for 6 weeks, then chemo alone for 6-9 months after that. While I fully expect my mom to live more than 18 months, as she is anything but “average”, it has shifted our entire family’s perspective. We are going to get busy LIVING!
My mom and stepdad would never want to ask anyone for help, but she is the first person to help others. My mom is the most generous, caring, athletic, energetic, loving person. She’s many of her children’s friends “second mom”. She herself has been a caregiver for nearly 30 years- a physical therapist at Newton Wellesley Hospital. As her brain surgeon said right before her surgery: “Only nice people get brain tumors, Jonna”. In the days post-surgery, she asked me to drive her to MGH and Newton Wellesley Hospital to drop off food for the nurses and doctors who cared for her and has been talking about how she wants to raise money for brain cancer. This is a woman who just got the worst news you could ever get medically- terminal cancer- and she’s still thinking about giving back to everyone else. She’s my inspiration every day. She deserves much better than brain cancer, but we can only control what we can control. What I can control is making sure my mom lives an exceptional rest of her life focusing on her goals and without financial burden, whatever amount of time that is.
I have decided to start this fundraising campaign on my mom’s behalf to help alleviate some of the financial burden of this disease. This will allow my mom to focus more on her treatment and recovery instead of the financial stress something like this causes. Medical expenses, life expenses, expenses while being unable to work, and unexpected expenses add up far too quickly with cancer. Currently, she is not cleared to work and the stress of trying to keep her medical insurance and having zero earn time left is a constant stress to our family. On top of that, we’d prefer her not working in the hospital while receiving radiation and being immunocompromised with COVID going on. With possible very limited time, I don’t want my mom wasting even a minute stressing over finances- her recovery and bucket list is our families main priority.
Anything you can contribute means the world to me, even just “sharing” this on social media if you are unable to donate would be so appreciated as I know this is a time of financial hardship for so many people besides our family. Even just sending some encouraging words to her would be so appreciated. We are so grateful and have been overwhelmed by all of the messages, food, flowers, and love our family has received from so many people- it has given my mom motivation every day to keep fighting and our family the support we've badly needed. We need her main focus to be healing her body and brain and recovering so we can fight this thing. And you better believe this family isn’t going down without a fight like you’ve never seen. Catch us on Family Feud soon (one of her bucket list items )!
With love and please keep my mom in your prayers,
Caity
We were beyond shocked when what we thought was a migraine, ended up being two brain tumors in early April. As shocking as this all was, nothing was worse than my mom having to go through this emergency surgery completely alone. Due to COVID-19, ZERO of her family members were able to visit her in the hospital while she waited for the surgery. It was the hardest thing watching her in the hospital alone during the scariest time in someone’s life. Take note, my mom is a complete badass and refused to sit in a hospital bed alone, so she started walking, some may say Forest Gump style. I don’t know a single person who has walked a full marathon inside the hospital- 26.2 miles- while awaiting brain surgery, but she did. That’s just the kind of person she is, a fighter, always proving people wrong.
She received brain surgery on Monday April 6th and they were able to get 95% of the tumors out, thanks to the amazing staff at MGH and her surgeon, Dr. Nahed. While we are thankful she got the best possible care, the diagnosis has not been what we had hoped for. The doctors diagnosed the tumors as glioblastoma- the highest grade brain tumors that are very aggressive. It was a blow to our family when the doctors said the average life expectancy is 18 months. The treatment will be radiation and chemo for 6 weeks, then chemo alone for 6-9 months after that. While I fully expect my mom to live more than 18 months, as she is anything but “average”, it has shifted our entire family’s perspective. We are going to get busy LIVING!
My mom and stepdad would never want to ask anyone for help, but she is the first person to help others. My mom is the most generous, caring, athletic, energetic, loving person. She’s many of her children’s friends “second mom”. She herself has been a caregiver for nearly 30 years- a physical therapist at Newton Wellesley Hospital. As her brain surgeon said right before her surgery: “Only nice people get brain tumors, Jonna”. In the days post-surgery, she asked me to drive her to MGH and Newton Wellesley Hospital to drop off food for the nurses and doctors who cared for her and has been talking about how she wants to raise money for brain cancer. This is a woman who just got the worst news you could ever get medically- terminal cancer- and she’s still thinking about giving back to everyone else. She’s my inspiration every day. She deserves much better than brain cancer, but we can only control what we can control. What I can control is making sure my mom lives an exceptional rest of her life focusing on her goals and without financial burden, whatever amount of time that is.
I have decided to start this fundraising campaign on my mom’s behalf to help alleviate some of the financial burden of this disease. This will allow my mom to focus more on her treatment and recovery instead of the financial stress something like this causes. Medical expenses, life expenses, expenses while being unable to work, and unexpected expenses add up far too quickly with cancer. Currently, she is not cleared to work and the stress of trying to keep her medical insurance and having zero earn time left is a constant stress to our family. On top of that, we’d prefer her not working in the hospital while receiving radiation and being immunocompromised with COVID going on. With possible very limited time, I don’t want my mom wasting even a minute stressing over finances- her recovery and bucket list is our families main priority.
Anything you can contribute means the world to me, even just “sharing” this on social media if you are unable to donate would be so appreciated as I know this is a time of financial hardship for so many people besides our family. Even just sending some encouraging words to her would be so appreciated. We are so grateful and have been overwhelmed by all of the messages, food, flowers, and love our family has received from so many people- it has given my mom motivation every day to keep fighting and our family the support we've badly needed. We need her main focus to be healing her body and brain and recovering so we can fight this thing. And you better believe this family isn’t going down without a fight like you’ve never seen. Catch us on Family Feud soon (one of her bucket list items )!
With love and please keep my mom in your prayers,
Caity
Organizer and beneficiary
Caity Capecci
Organizer
Wellesley, MA
Jonna Beauregard
Beneficiary