Maribelle kicks cancer!

It happened so slowly and gradually, it's hard to know when it really started, but Maribelle has not been feeling good for a long time. She would eat some crackers or a few bites of a sandwich, then she'd start feeling full. She started losing weight and was fatigued, but she still kept babysitting her grandbaby whenever she was needed, and spent many of her weekends driving to Bryan, three hours away, to spend time with her widowed mother. All the while, she was feeling ill, but like a mama bear, our Mom is reluctant to let on when she's unwell.

Finally, in August 2018, even Mom's iron will started to fade, and she began seeking treatment. For months, doctors prodded her. They ordered invasive and expensive tests, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. Finally, the Friday before Thanksgiving, she went to the emergency room in excruciating pain. The doctors performed a laparoscopy, and when she awoke from the anesthesia, they told her the news no one wants to hear: "It's cancer, and it's everywhere."

Maribelle has a very rare form of cancer that strikes only one in a million: mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix. In a cruel twist, she had her appendix removed in 2007, which means this cancer has been growing in her abdomen, undetected, for 11 years. Hundreds of  tumors now encase most of the organs in her belly—her large intestine, gallbladder, spleen, liver and perhaps more.

(Images from Maribelle's laparoscopy)

Fifteen years ago, this diagnosis would have been a death sentence. This cancer, which is part of a group of cancers called peritoneal cancer, does not typically respond to traditional chemotherapy. But in the early 2000s, a new treatment called Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy, or HIPEC, began extending the lives of patients by as much as 10+ years.

HIPEC will be one of the biggest trials of Maribelle's life. The surgery itself can last up to 16 hours, as surgeons remove any expendable organs and painstakingly excise tumors from what remains, then bathe the abdominal cavity in heated, high-intensity chemotherapy drugs for two hours. When the surgery is over, Maribelle will spend several days in the ICU, stay in the hospital for at least two weeks, and will be out of work for several more as her body recovers. The scar will run the length of her abdomen, from her sternum to her pelvis, and it may be six months to a year before she's fully recovered.

Learn more about HIPEC here 

Maribelle has weathered a lot in her life. As a single working mom, she singlehandedly raised two children and two stepchildren. (That’s one mom and FOUR kids!) During the recession of 2008, she was unexpectedly laid off from her employer of 20+ years, and she went back to school to create a new career for herself in her 50s. 

Now, Maribelle is too young for Medicare but finds herself facing a daunting medical emergency. Although she has a good job and health insurance, she will be taking a great deal of unpaid time off, and she’ll be  reaching her maximum out-of-pocket limit twice, once for treatment in 2018 and again for 2019.  Your donations will go directly to her hospital fees and other necessary expenses.

Fortunately, Maribelle has three things on her side:

(Dr Patricio Polanco)

1) A great surgical team. We're fortunate to be working with Dr Polanco at UT Southwestern. He is an experienced provider of HIPEC, and we are confident he and his team will give Maribelle the best care in Texas.

(Maribelle and grandson Tom)

2) A great attitude. If you've met Maribelle, you know she is 100% a  steel magnolia. She's loving and warm, but also highly determined. She  would do anything for her family.  She has four young grandchildren and another due this spring, and Maribelle is not going to let anything get in the way of playing with her precious grandbabies.

3) Loving friends and family. Maribelle comes from a family that's as tight-knit as they come, and is surrounded by friends and a church community who are ready to help her through this difficult time.

We are already planning to spend weeks of our own time off—paid and unpaid—helping Mom as she heals. She will initially need assistance with all the small tasks of everyday life—dressing, bathing, etc—and will require a special diet for many months. For this reason, she won't be needing meals, but if you'd like to find another way to help her, please send us a message. It's likely she will be needing help with driving, errands, lifting and other tasks for months after the surgery. 

Thank you again for your help. Together we can get through this difficult moment and help the woman who's given so much, so lovingly, to so many.