Help with Georgy's recovery from brain cancer

Hi, everyone.

 

My sister, Georgy, was admitted to the ER on 9/27/21 to get evaluated for her chronic headaches, which had been getting increasingly more severe over the past 6 – 7 weeks. Given she is only 28 years old and extremely healthy, we couldn’t have imagined a scenario which was about to unfold. They performed a CT scan at the local hospital, which revealed that she has a tumor on the right side of her frontal lobe. Given the severity of the situation, she was immediately airlifted to the University of Pennsylvania Neurological intensive care unit, where she remained until her surgery to remove the tennis ball sized tumor, which took place on 9/30/21. Georgy experienced paralysis on the left side of her body immediately following the surgery, which we were told could happen. She was unable to walk for several days until she regained just enough ambulatory ability to stand and walk with the assistance of medical staff.

 

She remained at Penn for several days until she was eventually moved to a rehab hospital where she received physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and other treatment. She was finally discharged and sent home on 10/20/21.

 

Though she is home, she faces a challenging road ahead given the tumor was a grade 4 (most malignant) IDH mutation astrocytoma. She will be starting a 6-week treatment process with radiation in conjunction with 6-12 months of chemotherapy. After this time frame, she will be monitored periodically, and they will reassess whether additional rounds of chemo are necessary on a go forward basis. Out of an abundance of caution, they plan on retrieving eggs to bolster Georgy and Will's ability to have children as the radiation/chemo increases potential for infertility. 

 

The oncologist has told Georgy to expect this tumor to reappear sometime in the future, though he could not say if it would be in 2 years, 10 years, etc. He just said it COULD come back in her brain, at some point. 

 

While the support from friends and family has been overwhelming, we can’t help but anticipate the financial burden she is facing from the escalating and ongoing medical bills. Although Georgy has insurance through her employer, she will have quickly blown through her deductible and maximum out of pocket. On top of the medical bills from her airlift, hospital stay, procedure, etc. she will be out of work for an extended period of time recovering.

 

Thank you, again, for all the love and support for our dear Georgy. If she could, she would come give each one of you a huge hug in appreciation for all the texts, calls, flowers, etc. She is looking forward to returning to what was supposed to be a normal life for a healthy, driven and soon to be married 28 year old.

 

And from the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank you for your support and contributions to help defray Georgy’s financial burden caused by this horrible disease.

 

Sincerely,

Hilary South