#HeroicHillary

Hi, my name is Kimberly. I'm setting up this GoFundMe to raise money to help my fabulous sister-in-law, Hillary, and her family with medical expenses not covered by insurance for her cancer treatment. 


A little background on Hillary’s cancer journey:

In 2020, right after her dad passed away and amid the height of COVID-19, Hillary began her brave battle of an incredibly rare yet devastating disease,  Small Cell Neuroendocrine Cervical Cancer , Stage 4. This cancer is so rare and aggressive that finding research and information about it is incredibly difficult. In fact, MD Anderson seems to be the only center in the world that has a team dedicated to research to provide cutting-edge, evidence-based treatment. To that, we owe all these grassroots efforts to the women, caregivers and supporters of who have fought to form a cancer registry to understand the most effective existing treatments, conduct meaningful research to better understand the biology of this cancer, and ultimately perform clinical trials utilizing new and innovative treatments to improve survival. Sisters , YOU are amazing. 


After completing 20 rounds of external radiation, 5 boosters to her lymph nodes, 3 days at Johns Hopkins for 5 brachytherapy rounds, countless blood transfusions and 5 rounds (40 hours) of chemo. She then underwent a 12+ hour surgery at Johns Hopkins with 3 surgeons for a radical hysterectomy, cystectomy and reconstruction. After this surgery, she was considered NED. She wrote a year to the day of surgery, 11/12/2021: 


"I have baffled, in a good way, my oncologist with the extent of my disease that I am still NED. I continue to experience issues from surgery, radiation, brachytherapy and chemo but I am here. Not my old "me" but the new "me". The me that has a urostomy instead of a bladder and struggles to function completely like I did before. The me who feels blessed to be here for my children but struggles with the anxiety of when the next occurrence will happen. The me who wonders why I have been so lucky after an extensive stage 4 cancer. The survivor guilt. I hope that my story will give someone some hope. For others, please know that I remember coming out of surgery and hearing the word cancer. I remember the weeks after when they thought I would not make it."


Unfortunately, a month later, Hillary would learn she is again fighting for her life. She was diagnosed with a treatment based malignant blood cancer, Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). After ringing in New Year 2022 receiving chemo in the hospital, plus another 7 weeks, she is currently home with her family. She is wrapping up her 2nd round of chemo (Consolidation Phase) and is waiting to hear from the John's Hopkins team on next steps for a Bone Marrow or Stem Cell transplant. After 2 years of ongoing cancer treatment, Hillary's body is weak. She is still closely monitored for a recurrence of her first cancer. We, along with her full oncology teams at Hopkins and INOVA, believes that the BMT is her best chance at remission from AML. The BMT process will include an extensive stay in the Baltimore area. 


The funds we are raising will help cover lodging, medical costs, care givers and other expenses, which are NOT covered by insurance. To those that have been supportive throughout this journey, thank you for your continued support. To those strangers that may not even know us and are willing to donate. Thank you!