Help Shelby keep fighting her cancer

In January of 2018, Shelby went from being an extremely active and lively 25 year old to having unexplained back pain and a tingling in her left leg. By spring, after consulting various doctors and an MRI they discovered a tumor inside her spinal cord that was likely attached to her nerves. We spent the summer gathering 2nd and 3rd opinions from Johns Hopkins and Children’s Hospital and in August she had a risky surgery to biopsy the tumor. The biopsy revealed her tumor to be a high grade astrocytoma (spinal cord tumor) and once she had recovered from the surgery she began radiation and chemotherapy. Shelby's cancer is extremely rare and at this point she has completed all the available cancer fighting treatments.

In 2020, her symptoms progressed and as a result she is unable to move her left leg and has limited feeling and mobility in her right leg. The tumor is continually causing damage to her spinal cord which causes interruptions in the messages from her brain to her legs. In addition to the loss of mobility she has a condition called spasticity, which causes her leg muscles to lock and cramp in extremely painful episodes.

In the past 6 months Shelby has had significant health challenges and has been hospitalized twice due to chronic pain. She has spent 3 weeks in DC at the National Rehab Hospital. She is currently on disability leave from work and is not able to walk anymore or live in the independent manner she would like.

Please consider helping Shelby by donating to her GoFundMe account. Donations will help with her loss of income, ongoing medical expenses, purchasing necessary medical equipment, and medical supplies. Another way donations will be used is to pay for extra physical therapy sessions that will help manage her pain and discomfort.

We kindly ask for your donation, no matter the size, towards Shelby’s fight against her spinal cord tumor.

Her whole family thanks you for your support.