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On July 20, 2018 Mary DeRose, Doctor of Chiropractic in Sedona AZ was diagnosed with Brain Cancer and Stage 4 Lung Cancer. This is Mary’s journey before she came to Sedona. Mary DeRose began her clinical career as a Registered Nurse in Buffalo, NY for many years before being persuade by her older son Charles to go back to school to be a Chiropractor. Charles was playing rugby at Life’s Club Team in GA and learned the Chiropractic Philosophy of Innate Intelligence. Since Mary had already learned Therapeutic Touch from Delores Kruger, PH.D. RN creator of the Therapeutic Touch, Charles believed that being a Chiropractor was perfect for his mother. She went to visit Charles in GA and decided he was right and she wanted to work more “hands on” with patients so she decided to go back to school for her Chiropractic training to Life University of Marietta GA. But during this time Mary and her mother were living together after her mother had a stroke in 1989. Leaving Mary to be her primary caregiver she need to get her mother’s approval to move both of them to GA, and she said yes to the move. And Mary pursued her Chiropractic Training and has been practicing for the last 22 years.
After he mother passed away in 1999 she came to visit her son Charles who was now living in Phoenix. They took a trip to the Grand Canyon and Sedona and this is how her love affair with Sedona began. She moved to Sedona in 2001 unfortunately her son Charles passed away in 2003. Her friends and patients of the Sedona Community are special to her heart.
Mary never had any medical illness or conditions before July of 2018. It started with Mary having a sudden onset of unusual and uncontrollable jaw movements, shaking, difficulty with balance, facial weakness, left facial drooping, headaches and hyper salivation. She had a CAT scan of her Head with results of a 2.6 cm tumor within the right frontal lobe of her brain. She was referred to Barrows Neurological Institute for Brain & Spine where she had to get another MRI of her Brain done showing the brain tumor was now 3.4 cm.
On 8/6/2018 she had a Right Frontal Craniotomy resection (Brain Surgery) to remove the brain tumor. After her brain surgery the doctors ordered her to have a procedure done called CyberKnife Stealth Stereotactic Radiosurgery, hundreds of targeted radiation beams to the cavity of her brain where the tumor was removed from. Pathology of the brain tumor showed metastatic adenocarcinoma consistent with pulmonary origin. A CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis showed a mass in her right upper lobe of her lungs, a mass in her middle lobe and a mass on her right adrenal. So not only did she have brain cancer she also has lung cancer.
Mary started a new immune-oncological treatment, Keytruda from 10/5/2018 – 12/28/2018 with the hopes that this immune-therapy would help shrink the lung tumor. The only good news at this time was that on 10/29/2018 she had a follow-up MRI of her Brain and it showed no evidence of recurrence of the brain mass.
After her Keytruda immune-therapy treatment another follow-up PET scan was done on 1/10/2019 showed that the lung mass had grown to 5.1 cm, the treatment had not help. And a CT Chest on 1/28/2019 showed increase right upper lobe atelectasis and consolidation and multiple mediastinal nodes with a 9 mm pericardial effusion, the lung tumor is still growing.
Mary had a follow up visit at Barrows Neurological Institute and was referred to a Pulmonary Specialist for a consult on the possibility of doing the Cyber Knife - Stealth Stereotactic Radiation on the lung mass but unfortunately the mass has now grown too large to do this procedure and she is now doing tradition Chemotherapy Treatments to try to shrink the lung mass down so she can do the Cyber Knife Radiation. Traditional Radiation was also recommended along with the Chemotherapy but Mary has chosen only to do the Chemotherapy treatments at this time.
With your donation Mary wants to try a more non-traditional approach to fight this cancer, which we all know are not covered by insurance, along with her Chemotherapy Treatments. With her travel expenses to get her Chemotherapy Treatments and testing she has to miss work because of these appointments. Along with some days being too ill after her Chemotherapy Treatments to work. As an independent Chiropractor her only form of income is from the Chiropractic Services she offers. She is single, 74 years old and she does not have a pension or retirement plan, she lives independently and she has to work to survive. That is why she is asking for any donation, no amount is too small to help her in her journey to beat this cancer. There is no such thing as a small donation and every little bit is a blessing for her.
Mary will need all the love and support to carry her through this next chapter and unknown journey ahead. She has touched so many with her kindred spirit and bright smile. It's now our turn to show her how loved she is and give her the added strength she needs to beat this cancer.
We thank you all in advance for your kind consideration and generosity and know Mary will be eternally grateful for any help she's able to get!
After he mother passed away in 1999 she came to visit her son Charles who was now living in Phoenix. They took a trip to the Grand Canyon and Sedona and this is how her love affair with Sedona began. She moved to Sedona in 2001 unfortunately her son Charles passed away in 2003. Her friends and patients of the Sedona Community are special to her heart.
Mary never had any medical illness or conditions before July of 2018. It started with Mary having a sudden onset of unusual and uncontrollable jaw movements, shaking, difficulty with balance, facial weakness, left facial drooping, headaches and hyper salivation. She had a CAT scan of her Head with results of a 2.6 cm tumor within the right frontal lobe of her brain. She was referred to Barrows Neurological Institute for Brain & Spine where she had to get another MRI of her Brain done showing the brain tumor was now 3.4 cm.
On 8/6/2018 she had a Right Frontal Craniotomy resection (Brain Surgery) to remove the brain tumor. After her brain surgery the doctors ordered her to have a procedure done called CyberKnife Stealth Stereotactic Radiosurgery, hundreds of targeted radiation beams to the cavity of her brain where the tumor was removed from. Pathology of the brain tumor showed metastatic adenocarcinoma consistent with pulmonary origin. A CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis showed a mass in her right upper lobe of her lungs, a mass in her middle lobe and a mass on her right adrenal. So not only did she have brain cancer she also has lung cancer.
Mary started a new immune-oncological treatment, Keytruda from 10/5/2018 – 12/28/2018 with the hopes that this immune-therapy would help shrink the lung tumor. The only good news at this time was that on 10/29/2018 she had a follow-up MRI of her Brain and it showed no evidence of recurrence of the brain mass.
After her Keytruda immune-therapy treatment another follow-up PET scan was done on 1/10/2019 showed that the lung mass had grown to 5.1 cm, the treatment had not help. And a CT Chest on 1/28/2019 showed increase right upper lobe atelectasis and consolidation and multiple mediastinal nodes with a 9 mm pericardial effusion, the lung tumor is still growing.
Mary had a follow up visit at Barrows Neurological Institute and was referred to a Pulmonary Specialist for a consult on the possibility of doing the Cyber Knife - Stealth Stereotactic Radiation on the lung mass but unfortunately the mass has now grown too large to do this procedure and she is now doing tradition Chemotherapy Treatments to try to shrink the lung mass down so she can do the Cyber Knife Radiation. Traditional Radiation was also recommended along with the Chemotherapy but Mary has chosen only to do the Chemotherapy treatments at this time.
With your donation Mary wants to try a more non-traditional approach to fight this cancer, which we all know are not covered by insurance, along with her Chemotherapy Treatments. With her travel expenses to get her Chemotherapy Treatments and testing she has to miss work because of these appointments. Along with some days being too ill after her Chemotherapy Treatments to work. As an independent Chiropractor her only form of income is from the Chiropractic Services she offers. She is single, 74 years old and she does not have a pension or retirement plan, she lives independently and she has to work to survive. That is why she is asking for any donation, no amount is too small to help her in her journey to beat this cancer. There is no such thing as a small donation and every little bit is a blessing for her.
Mary will need all the love and support to carry her through this next chapter and unknown journey ahead. She has touched so many with her kindred spirit and bright smile. It's now our turn to show her how loved she is and give her the added strength she needs to beat this cancer.
We thank you all in advance for your kind consideration and generosity and know Mary will be eternally grateful for any help she's able to get!
Organizer and beneficiary
Mary DeRose
Beneficiary