Hello, we have created this go fund me page to raise money for a dear friend and her family. Tina Connelly, who has been bravely battling stage IV recurrent bladder cancer needs our help.

Her story:

Back in 2013 she was diagnosed with bladder cancer and had surgery to remove the tumors. Unfortunately, bladder cancer has a high recurrence rate. She has had many recurrences since then. In February of 2020 the cancer came back a year after her last diagnosis in Feb 2019 and it has now become even more aggressive. In 2020 due to COVID lots of waiting took place as appointments were delayed and she needed to get in to start her heavy duty chemotherapy. In August 2020 she had her bladder and several other parts removed. A neobladder was made to replace her regular bladder.

After surgery in August there were serious setbacks with her kidneys, anemia, etc that ended up putting her back in the hospital for about a week each time. By the end of October, she was finally starting to heal from surgery but continued to have lower back pain. She tried a chiropractor, then went to a pain management doctor, and it was then chalked up to muscular issues and therefore she was turned over to physical therapy. No help was provided there so she went back to pain management Dr. she went and he ordered a MRI. That test showed there was something going on but nothing to hang a diagnosis on, so she had another MRI of a different area. That test suggested a CT scan should be done. So a CT of the upper chest and abdomen were done. Now issues are starting to pop up so she had a PET scan as well.

Recap: She started to complain about back pain and some abdominal pain last October 2020 to her Oncologist, nothing was done. Well after seeing numerous doctors and trying many types of medications, the doctor decided to do a PET scan of her lower back and lower abdomen. It was found she has stage IV recurrent bladder cancer which is all over her pelvis and lower back. Treatment is palliative, not curative.

She is currently going through radiation treatment everyday which is leaving her in excruciating pain. After radiation is done then she will hopefully be able to withstand a certain kind of chemotherapy. Then maybe immunotherapy. If she can’t go through anything beyond radiation, then she has about 4-6 months to live. If she can handle further treatment, then perhaps 9 - 12 months.

Tina has endured so much emotionally and physically, we'd like to help at least ease the financial burden this is causing, she is currently still working through all of this, which is hard to fathom. Tina is a remarkable, kind, free spirited woman who leaves an impression on everyone she touches, she brings so much joy and smiles to those around her. She has stayed positive through all that she has been through which is an amazing feat in itself.

The funds raised will help with the following:

· Help Tina afford non-conventional cancer treatment

· Chemotherapy

· Hospital stays/testing

· Out of pocket expenses

· Loss of wages

· Items not covered by insurance

· Getting a second opinion

· Adjustments needing to be made to home life

Please pray for healing, peace and the tumors/cancer to disappear. We thank everyone for the support and appreciate you all more than you know.

"Sometimes the strongest women are the ones who love beyond all faults, cry behind closed doors and fight battles that nobody knows about"