Medical Fundraiser for Holly Caster

First of all, I just want to say Thank You. From Holly, from her Family, and from her
friends, thank you for taking a moment out of your day to read Holly's story.

Holly is a wonderful loving person who is battling incurable lung cancer. When
Holly was 34 a lump appeared under her ear. The doctors tried to dismiss this at
first but Holly felt like it should not be ignored and after pushing for more testing
it came back as a rare stage 2 cancer called Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. After going through a surgery at Beaumont Health Systems, the tumor, as well as 70% of her parotid gland, were successfully removed. This caused partial paralysis to her smile, but it also gave her hope. She then went on to have 31 additional Proton treatments, including radiation and 5 rounds of Chemotherapy in Knoxville Tennessee and she was given the good news, Holly was cancer free.

But not leaving anything to chance, Holly went head long into her recovery period
researching healthier ways of life, exercising, and everything she could find to not
have to go through the hell her body had been through, again.

However, in 2017, she was given the devastating news that her cancer had
returned, and not just that, but it had metastasized to both of her lungs. Holly was
devastated, as were the rest of us, but her sister Kimberly was not letting her back down and was going to find the hope she needed. Kimberly has tirelessly fought and in doing so she found a promising treatment at California Providence Mission Viejo Hospital in Mission Viejo, California known as Brachytherapy Lung
Treatment. This treatment is only offered in California and only by 2 doctors at this specific hospital. She immediately got in contact with the Doctors and they
informed her she would be a perfect candidate for their lung cancer treatment, so
in December 2019 and August 2020 they were able to successfully seed a small
portion, 55, of the tumors in her lungs with radiation, and through this treatment
along with a 25 day hospital recovery including checkups, she was told this
miraculous treatment was successful to the degree that all the tumors that have
been treated were either gone, or substantially smaller in size.
However even with such good news, her body was battered and weak. While
waiting for her body to heal to get the next round of treatment, the remaining
tumors in both lungs forced her to stop working, and that lead to her losing
medical insurance. Even today Holly struggles with doing simple daily tasks, but
keeps pushing the boundaries of her weak and battered body, hoping that she will
find a way to be healthy again.

Holly was forced to get on state funded medical insurance, and kept doing
everything she could to recover and strengthen her body with the hope that
another round of treatment would be approved. After an initial denial, and having
to use large amounts of her savings on a medical attorney, she was again denied
her appeal for this life-giving treatment by the courts.

But those of us closest to her know that this fight, and her story, is far from over.
Her sister, closest friends, and family, have found a way forward by buying private
medical insurance for her that would allow her to get approved for another round
of treatment. As anyone knows the out-of-pocket expenses going this route
quickly add up into the tens of thousands of dollars annually that have to be paid
out. But even still, after putting our own plans on hold to give to Holly, it is still a
long expensive road forward to getting Holly her life back and the journey has just begun.

We all, Holly included, know how this story will end, but that only
emboldens us to do everything we can to extend the life she has in order to
experience the future and have a chance at being a part of her family’s life
through as many momentous occasions as possible.

Despite Holly not wanting to burden anyone else, the only path those closest to
her see forward is to ask for your help. All donations will go directly to her ongoing care including insurance costs, copays, travel & lodging, infusion therapies, and supplemental recovery treatments. Not a single person who has helped her get this far will take a single penny from this huge ask.

There is no donation that is too small, and we all know how tough times are right
now so even if you are unable to contribute at this time, please share her story
and continue to keep Holly and her family in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks to come.

We will keep updating this page with any and all information we can, and
hopefully with some words from Holly herself during the course of her
treatments. You are all now a part of Holly’s family, and from the bottoms of our
hearts, we thank you all!