My name is Joanne and pictured above are me and my 3 sisters on a “Sister Weekend” last fall. In order from front to back we are Mary Lu, Joanne (me), Chris, and Patti. (We have four brothers not pictured above Danny, Marty, Andy, and Tommy).
Our sister, Mary Lu Gillan, received alarming news about her health. She is now on a cancer journey that looks very bad. An ER visit for abdominal pain resulted in CT findings that include multiple malignancies and metastasis involving her uterus, cervix, endometrium, lungs, and bone (origin unknown until biopsies are done). Many of her pelvic organs are also involved (kidneys, liver, bladder). This hardship is even greater because when the company Mary Lu worked for closed their doors in the fall of 2025, Mary Lu received no severance, no Cobra/insurance benefits and no assistance. Her unemployment benefits caused her to not qualify for Medicaid and will soon run out. This is a true financial hardship.
The Story:
Our beloved Mary Lu—sister, friend, and a bright light to her community—is facing the fight of her life. After a series of health concerns led her to the ER, we received the news no family is prepared for: Mary Lu has been diagnosed with an advanced malignancy involving the cervix and uterus, which has also shown signs of spread to her lungs and bones.
The Challenge:
To compound this devastating diagnosis, the timing could not be more difficult. Mary Lu recently lost her job, and along with it, her health insurance. Despite our best efforts to secure immediate coverage, she currently finds herself in a "gap" without insurance to cover the specialized biopsies, chemotherapy, and scans she needs to begin her recovery.
How Your Support Helps:
While we are working tirelessly with navigators in Kankakee to get her into state assistance and charity care programs, those processes take time—time we don’t have.
We are asking for your help to build a bridge for Mary Lu. Your donations will go directly toward:
- Immediate Diagnostic Costs: Covering the urgent biopsies and follow-up scans required to finalize her treatment plan.
- Life Saving Medications: Many take-home prescriptions for pain and symptom management are not covered by hospital programs and must be paid out-of-pocket.
- Basic Living Expenses: Ensuring Mary Lu can keep her housing and keep the lights on while she is unable to work during treatment.
- Transportation: Travel to and from oncology specialists and hospital treatments.
Updates:
We have set up a CaringBridge site Mary Lu’s Caring Bridge Site where we will share regular updates on her medical journey. We want this GoFundMe to be the place where we can take the crushing weight of financial stress off her shoulders so she can focus entirely on healing.
No donation is too small. If you are unable to give, please consider sharing this link with your network. Mary Lu has always been the first to offer a helping hand to others in her community, especially with the area Veteran’s groups—now, it’s our turn to hold her up.
With deep gratitude,
Joanne Kohls
Organizer
